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The Frankfurt model is described to exemplify the teaching and training concepts implemented at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Frankfurt am Main up to 2015. The Frankfurt model describes a comprehensive, networked teaching system aiming at an interdisciplinary training. Interdisciplinarity is a domain of forensic medicine as a broadly diversified subject related to various scientific disciplines. The importance of the medicolegal triad (research, teaching, services) rooted in the university setting, on which the success of this interdisciplinary teaching and training concept is based, is illustrated. Sufficient funding is required to maintain this medicolegal triad, and the consequences of potential reductions due to fiscal reasons are outlined.

In forensic medicine, blood loss is encountered frequently, either as a cause of death or as a contributing factor. Here, risk to life and lethality assessment is based on the concept of relative blood loss (absolute loss out of total volume). In emergency medicine, the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLSⓇ) classification also refers to relative blood loss. We tested the validity of relative blood loss benchmarks with reference to lethality. Depending on the quality of the total blood volume (TBV) estimation formula, relative blood loss rates should be reflected in the case cohort as significantly higher absolute blood loss in heavier individuals since all TBV estimation formulas positively correlate body weight with TBV. Method: 80 autopsy cases with sudden, quantifiable, exclusively internal blood loss were retrospectively analyzed and a total of 8 different formulas for TBV estimation were applied. Results: No statistical correlation between body weight and absolute blood loss was found for any of the tested TBV estimation algorithms. All cases showed a wide spread of both absolute and relative blood loss. Discussion: The principle of relative blood loss is of very limited use in casework. It opens the forensic expert opinion to unnecessary criticism and possible negative legal implications. Conclusion: We challenge the use of relative blood loss benchmarks in textbooks and practical casework and advocate for its elimination from the ATLSⓇ 's grading system. If necessary, we recommend the use of BMI-adjusted algorithms for TBV estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A problem encountered by medical examiners is that they have to assess injuries that have already been medically treated. Thus, they have to base their reports on clinical forensic examinations per formed hours or days after an injury was sustained, or even base their assessment solely on information gleaned from medical files. In both scenarios, the forensic examiner has to rely heavily on the first responder's documentation of the original injury pattern. Medical priority will be to immediately treat a patient's injuries, and the first responder may, in addition, initially be unaware of a possibly criminal origin of an injury. As a result, the documentation of injuries is frequently of limited value for forensic purposes. This situation could be improved if photographic records were briefly made of injuries before they were treated. Methods: German-language medicolegal, criminal, and photography journals and books were selectively searched with the help of PubMed and other databases. In addition, the authors' experiences in creating and evaluating photographic records for clinical forensic use were assessed. Results: This paper is an aid to creating photographic records of sufficient quality for forensic purposes. The options provided by digital photography in particular make this endeavor feasible even in a clinical setting. In addition, our paper illuminates some technical aspects of creating and archiving photographic records for forensic use, and addresses possible error sources. Conclusion: With the requisite technical background knowledge, injuries can be photographically recorded to forensic standards during patient care. INSETS: Reasons why one might suspect violence/Indication for…;KEY MESSAGES;Supplementary technical background information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As fatalities attributable to novel H1N1/S-OIV infections are currently rising, an increasing number of autopsies will have to be performed on these cases. In view of this challenge, adequate safety precautions and recommendations for autopsy procedures and the sampling and handling of specimens have to be established. Based on current literature, procedures for daily autopsy practice are proposed, particularly in regard to personal protection equipment, swab usage, and autopsy hygiene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]