WEBVTT - How Is An Autopsy Performed?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>It's Christian Sager, and I have a deeply concerning question

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<v Speaker 1>for you today. What happens when I die? And I

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<v Speaker 1>don't mean like will I go to heaven? Or who

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<v Speaker 1>gets all of my comic books? No, I want to

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<v Speaker 1>know what someone's going to do with my dead body

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<v Speaker 1>when it's on a slab of cold steel. How does

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<v Speaker 1>an autopsy work? Well? First of all, a word of

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<v Speaker 1>warning for our listeners. If you're squeamish, you might want

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<v Speaker 1>to listen to I don't Know a less gross episode

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<v Speaker 1>of brain Stuff, like wise bird Poop White or how

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<v Speaker 1>do bedbugs work? Okay, are you ready? Now? Let's start

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<v Speaker 1>by clarifying that an autopsy is a medical examination of

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<v Speaker 1>a dead body to determine the cause of death, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's two types, forensic and clinical. Clinical ones are performed

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<v Speaker 1>for research, medical training, or at the request of the

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<v Speaker 1>deceased family, and forensic autopsies are the ones you're used

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<v Speaker 1>to seeing on TV, like when Agent Scully carves into

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<v Speaker 1>a corpse because the truth is in there. This is

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<v Speaker 1>often for legal reasons, potentially as evidence in criminal or

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<v Speaker 1>civil court cases. While the general procedure is similar. For

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<v Speaker 1>our purposes, let's stick to forensic autopsies. All legally investigated

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<v Speaker 1>deaths fall into five categories natural accident, homicide, suicide, and undetermined. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that last one may seem a little wishy washy, but

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes the answers aren't that clear for the attending medical

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<v Speaker 1>examiner or coroner, and this is an important distinction. Forensic

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<v Speaker 1>pathologists are physicians trained to perform autopsies. Here in the

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<v Speaker 1>United States, most local governments mandate that an appointed pathologist

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<v Speaker 1>called a medical examiner, perform an autopsy, but not all.

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<v Speaker 1>In some counties they use corners instead of medical examiners,

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<v Speaker 1>and a corner doesn't necessary really have to have medical training. Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>they're elected to their position, and they can be anyone.

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<v Speaker 1>They could be farmers, snake handlers, even podcast hosts, I guess.

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<v Speaker 1>But if a non medical corner ever needs assistance, the

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<v Speaker 1>state usually provides them with a medical examiner. When that

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<v Speaker 1>examiner finally gets ahold of your cold body, here's what

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<v Speaker 1>they're gonna do to it. First, they gather information on you,

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<v Speaker 1>your death, and your medical records. Then they record an

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<v Speaker 1>external exam of your appearance. They start by photographing you

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<v Speaker 1>inside a body bag, noting your clothing and its position.

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<v Speaker 1>Before stripping you naked, they try to establish your identity,

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<v Speaker 1>noting ethnicity, gender, age, and hair and eye color. Then

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<v Speaker 1>they collect samples of hair, fingernails, and any foreign objects

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<v Speaker 1>found on your surface. Sometimes they use UV radiation or

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<v Speaker 1>X rays to find further evidence. Once the external exam

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<v Speaker 1>is done, they clean your body, weigh it, and measure

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<v Speaker 1>it On the table. They place a rubber body block

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<v Speaker 1>under your back to make your chest protrude forward so

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<v Speaker 1>the arms and neck fall back. This makes it easier

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<v Speaker 1>for the cutting. For a complete internal exam, they start

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<v Speaker 1>with the chest, making a Y shaped incision. Following this,

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<v Speaker 1>they peel back your skin, muscle and soft tissue with

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<v Speaker 1>a scalpel, pull the chest flap over your face and

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<v Speaker 1>expose your rib cage and neck muscles. Your rib cage

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<v Speaker 1>is then removed, followed by your larynx, esophagus, arteries, and ligaments.

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<v Speaker 1>By severing a few attachments to your spinal cord, bladder,

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<v Speaker 1>and rectum, the examiner can remove the rest of your

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<v Speaker 1>organs as an entire set. Your organs are each examined

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<v Speaker 1>and weighed with sample slices taken of their tissue if necessary.

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<v Speaker 1>These organs are stored in formulin. The examiner will also

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<v Speaker 1>take your urine, blood, bile, and the vitreous gel from

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<v Speaker 1>your eyes for further testing. Depending on how you died,

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<v Speaker 1>They probably won't cut open your arms, hands, legs, or

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<v Speaker 1>your face, but don't think your head is off the

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<v Speaker 1>hook just yet. If they need a peek inside your noggin,

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<v Speaker 1>the examiner will move the rubber block under your neck

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<v Speaker 1>like a pillow. Then they will make a cut from

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<v Speaker 1>behind one ear, across your forehead, over to the other ear,

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<v Speaker 1>and around the back. Once this is divided, they can

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<v Speaker 1>remove your scalp from your skull in two flaps, folding

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<v Speaker 1>one over your face and the other over the back

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<v Speaker 1>of your neck. Then outcomes the electric saw to pop

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<v Speaker 1>the top of your skull off like a cap and

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<v Speaker 1>expose your brain. This is severed from your spinal cord

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<v Speaker 1>and tentorum and then lifted out Frankenstein style. Just like

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<v Speaker 1>your other organs, it's weighed and examined. Well, what happens

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<v Speaker 1>to all of these organs sitting outside of your body anyways, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>depending on the style of funeral, they're either put back

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<v Speaker 1>in or they're incinerated either way, the butterfly chest flaps

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<v Speaker 1>are closed, the spell cap is placed back on your head,

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<v Speaker 1>and everything is sewn up nice and tidy with a

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<v Speaker 1>baseball stitch. Though, even after your body goes off to

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<v Speaker 1>the funeral home, a pathologists work is never done. It

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<v Speaker 1>takes days to get tissue and blood samples tested, and

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<v Speaker 1>at least two weeks for brain samples. Then it takes

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<v Speaker 1>hours more to write up a detailed report for the

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<v Speaker 1>official record. Now keep in mind that this is a

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<v Speaker 1>brief overview of the autopsy process. We didn't even get

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<v Speaker 1>into examining wounds, determining the time of death, or what

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<v Speaker 1>tools of the trade are used to crack you open.

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<v Speaker 1>Check out the brain stuff channel on YouTube, and for

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<v Speaker 1>more on this and thousands of other topics, visit how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com.