NEW PHILADELPHIA - More than 60 professionals from Schuylkill and surrounding counties attended the third annual Schuylkill County Coroners Symposium at the Simon Kramer Cancer Institute.
"It's open to all counties in Pennsylvania," Andrew Szczyglak, a Schuylkill County deputy coroner, said. The event was intended for coroners, funeral directors and emergency medical personnel.
Sessions held throughout the day included topics such as heroin overdoses, distracted driving/motor vehicle accidents, Occupational Safety and Health Administration training and regulations and the importance of working with other investigative agencies during death investigations.
The event cost $50 and the sessions provided credits for coroners and funeral directors toward continuing education courses.
State law requires recertification training of six hours every two years for funeral directors. Coroners and chief deputy coroners must have eight hours per year of training, Szczyglak said. Full-time deputies must also have eight hours of training per year to keep informed of new developments. There are no full-time deputy coroners in the county, Szczyglak said.
The event was sponsored by the Educational and Scientific Trust of the Simon Kramer Cancer Institute and the Schuylkill County Association of Medicolegal Death Investigators, a group headed by Dr. David Moylan, Schuylkill County coroner and medical director of the institute, to promote excellence in death investigations in the county.
As part of the program, a virtual autopsy was conducted on an unidentified man in his 50s. The process involves scanning the body, and an outline and images appear on a computer screen in another room.
"The heart looks big," Moylan said. He concluded the man died of a heart attack.
Marguerite Oravitz Fell, owner of Walukiewicz-Oravitz Fell Funeral Home, Shenandoah, attended the event to get the credits required by the state and to share her knowledge with people who might need their services at the funeral home.
Often, she said, people ask for a virtual autopsy on a loved one.
"It really gave me a greater insight," she said about the procedure.
Since March 2013, there have been 197 virtual autopsies at the Simon Kramer Institute, Moylan said.
Shortly after getting firsthand knowledge about virtual autopsies, participants learned about the importance of asking the right questions and observing everything when going to the scene of a death.
Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim said the job of a coroner is not an easy one.
"It's the worst news somebody wants to hear about the death of a loved one," he said.
When that notice is made, a coroner is always with law enforcement personnel, Grim said.
"It's extremely difficult," he said.
Grim has been the coroner for Lehigh County for 18 years.
"We try to bring closure to the families," he said.
Suicides and drug-related deaths are increasing, he said.
In 2012, there were 82 deaths attributable to suicide, 75 in 2013 and 15 have been recorded this year as of Saturday.
Since 2010, there have been 383 drug-related deaths in Lehigh County, Grim said, with deaths resulting from heroin on the rise.
People should know there is help for those who need it, he said.
For his presentation, Grim talked about the role that coroners have in their jobs and the importance of doing their job right.
"We are the ones who speak for the dead," he said.
Grim said how crucial it is that coroners use all their senses when doing their jobs.
"Look. Listen. Touch. Smell. Taste." he said, adding the last one was optional.
A coroner's frame of mind should be open that a death might not have occurred the way someone said it did.
"If something's not right with your gut feeling, something's not right," he said.
He said coroners shouldn't worry about the time it takes to examine the scene.
"Take your time," he said, adding it is important to get it right.
He said it's necessary to ask questions to those at the scene including police.
"It's a team effort, first and foremost," Grim said.
Also, it's important to document what took place in your autopsy report because it will be seen and read by others.
"It's your integrity as well," he said.
Moylan said he plans to hold another symposium next year.