ABSTRACT
An initial postmortem external assessment is a head-to-toe external physical examination with photodocumentation that is completed by the medicolegal death investigator (MDI). This assessment is crucial and should be completed prior to interviewing the infant’s caregivers or witnesses of the incident and prior to the deceased being transported from the scene or hospital to the forensic pathologist’s office. The information obtained during the initial assessment provides the investigator with information that may directly impact the initial interviews of caregivers and witnesses and, therefore, may help determine the cause and manner of the infant’s death.
