Accreditation for county medical examiner’s office

An inspection of the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s office in December has resulted in full accreditation from the National Association of Medical Examiner’s, according to a statement released from the county today. During the inspection, which occurred Dec. 5 and Dec. 6, Dr. David Fowler reviewed the department’s system for medicolegal death investigation. Only 46 other jurisdictions in the country have received this accreditation. While Dr. Fowler identified deficiencies in the level of staffing, a need for ways of having more medical investigators attain registration or certification by the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators, and a need for more space, all other national standards were met or exceeded.