Statistics

2005 Annual Statistics

The total number of deaths reported to the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office in 2005 was 1,544. This represents 28% of the 5,555 deaths that occurred in Pierce County in 2005. Each reported case received basic investigative review. Jurisdiction was declined in 820 cases. Jurisdiction was assumed in the remaining 724 cases and further investigation was conducted. Postmortem examinations by Forensic Pathologists (autopsies and external inspections, including non-human remains) were conducted in 430 cases. The pathologist were able to review and certify the remaining cases following investigation and medical history review. In 917 cases the decedent's private physician certified the death. The determination of manner of death is made by the Medical Examiner for death certification purposes based on the preponderance of available evidence.

The Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office serves as a regional autopsy facility, available for use under contract to hospital based pathologists for medical (non-forensic) cases. Facility use autopsies were performed at the Medical Examiner's facility in 4 such natural death cases in 2005.

2005 Statistical Table

Manner of Death	Total	Autopsy	Inspection	Case Review	Private Signer	Male	Female
Accident Drug Caused	80	69	5	6	0	52	28
Accident Fall	74	3	2	54	15	28	46
Accident General	33	28	0	5	0	27	6
Accident Industrial	3	3	0	0	0	2	1
Accident Traffic	71	60	0	9	2	60	11
Facility Use Case	4	4	0	0	0	3	1
Homicide	39	38	0	1	0	29	10
Natural	300	49	25	151	75	212	88
Non-Jurisdiction Case	820	0	0	0	820	436	384
Presumed Dead	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Suicide	95	93	2	0	0	76	19
Undetermined Child/Adult	17	12	4	0	1	10	7
Undetermined Infant	8	8	0	0	0	5	3
TOTALS	1,544	367	38	226	917	940	604

2005 Statistical Information

Total
415	Bodies transported to the office
3	Bodies unidentified after examination
367	Cases where toxicology was performed
0	Exhumations
0	Hospital autopsies retained under Medical Examiner jurisdiction
25	Non-human remains
12	Organ and tissue harvesting for donation
0	Partial autopsies
331	Scene visits by Medical Examiners or Medical Investigators
84	Unclaimed bodies