Forensic Medicine and Traumatology: A Comprehensive Guide
Concept of Forensic Medicine: This medical specialty bridges medicine and law, applying medical and legal knowledge across civil, criminal, and trade contexts.
Forensic Science: Used to address questions related to legal systems, including civil or criminal actions.
Criminality: Defined as a discipline of science, arts, and crafts that assists legal bodies. It involves laboratory and field work.
Analysis of Evidence: Transforming evidence for trial, demonstrating the guilt or innocence of a subject.
Stages of Criminology Process
- Scene Protection and Monitoring
- Fixation
- Waiver of Evidence
- Sending Evidence to the Laboratory
Scene Protection
Techniques and exercises designed to keep the event scene completely intact and unaltered.
Scene Protection Methods
- Point-to-Point Method
- Areas or Sectors Method
- Triangulation Method
- Open Spiral or Concentric Circle Method
- Stripes, Grids, or Grid Method
- Wheel Method
Securing the scene involves written descriptions, altimetry, forensic photography, forensic planimetry, and molding.
Principles of Forensic Science
- Principle of Use
- Principle of Production
- Principle of Exchange
- Principle of Correspondence
- Principle of Reconstruction of Events and Phenomena
- Principle of Probability
- Principle of Certainty
Committed acts always involve mechanical, chemical, physical, and biological agents.
The location of these agents always produces material evidence in morphological and structural varieties.
Exchange of evidence occurs between the perpetrator, the victim, and the scene, or between the perpetrator and the scene.
The dynamic action of mechanical factors on vulnerable bodies leaves printed features, reproducing the shape of the impacting face, providing the scientific basis for macro studies.
The study of material evidence related to the incident provides insights to help reconstruct the facts.
Reconstructing phenomena and events brings us closer to the truth with varying degrees of probability (low, medium, or high).
Depending on the quality of evidence, certainty can be established or options can be chosen.
Coroner Archaeology
The application of methods and techniques from paleontology to recover human remains in forensic contexts.
Concept of Forensic Medicine: The set of medical and biological knowledge necessary for solving legal problems, applying the law, and furthering its development and evolution.
Forensic Science: The application of science for legal purposes.
Importance of Legal Medicine: Derived from a set of unique circumstances.
Medical Act: Any treatment, intervention, or examination for diagnostic, prophylactic, therapeutic, or rehabilitation purposes conducted by or under the responsibility of a physician.
Legal Medical Documents
All written proceedings used by physicians in their relations with authorities, government agencies, the public, and individuals should be clear, concise, simple, general, and medico-legal. These include certificates, prescriptions, and medical histories.
Certificate
A document in which the expert makes a categorical statement of fact. It is requested by individuals or civil authorities, refers to present facts, and is signed by a single physician. It includes an introduction or preamble, the physician’s formal name, professional identification card, the name of the person recognized, the date and time, and a description of facts (generally a positive narrative of all tested).
Importance: Contributes to the proper functioning of justice administration and collaborates on developing laws and regulations.
Trauma
Derived from the Greek words “trauma” (wound) and “logos” (treaty), trauma is defined as a disruption or anatomical damage caused by external agents.
Concept of Injury
Any functional, organic, or mental disorder resulting from internal or external factors.
Classification of Injuries
- According to the objective nature of the vulnerant object
- On the estimation or measurement of the damage: severity, healing time, and consequences
According to the Vulnerant Instrument: Mechanical agents, physical agents, chemical agents, biological agents.
Forceful Agent Injuries: Chafing, ecchymosis, hematomas, shorter blunt injuries, deep bruises, great crushing.
Stab Wounds: Puncture wounds, penetrating wounds, sharp stabbing wounds, short blunt wounds, sharp, pointed wounds.
Firearm Wounds: Projectile wounds.
Strong Agents: Act on the body through force. Vulnerant agents with rounded edges or irregular shapes cause contusions (surface and deep).
Superficial Bruises: Hyperemia, bruised abrasions, superficial ecchymoses, surface hematomas.
Ecchymosis: A collection of extravasated blood infiltrated into the tissues (capillaries). It is a mild form of contusion. Color changes: Red-violet (1 day), blue (2-3 days), green (4-6 days), yellow (7-12 days), and fades (13-15 days).
Hematoma: Blood collected in a cavity formed by broken vessels.
Superficial Bruising: Blood collections due to broken vessels of a certain caliber.
Deep Bruising: Involves both the parasite and an underlying bone plane. Skin elasticity is stretched, resulting in internal injuries.
Contusion Wound Instruments: Rounded edges, mechanical action breaking the tissue. The bottom of the lesion has bridges of healthy tissue.
Burns: Local lesions produced by the direct action of physical agents or caustic chemicals.
