Jackson County medical examiner gets national honor

National Association of Medical Examiners Site Inspector Dr. Roger Mitchell (left) presented Jackson County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Mary Dudley and County Executive Mike Sanders with the NAME accreditation certificate. The inspectors found no deficiencies. Courtesy Jackson County.  during the accreditation process.

National Association of Medical Examiners Site Inspector Dr. Roger
Mitchell (left) presented Jackson County Chief Medical Examiner Dr.
Mary Dudley and County Executive Mike Sanders with the NAME
accreditation certificate. The inspectors found no deficiencies
during the accreditation process.Courtesy Jackson County.

 The Jackson County medical examiner’s office is among the best in the nation, according to a recent rating.

So says an accreditation inspection done by the National Association of Medical Examiners.

The inspection found zero deficiencies on a Jackson County checklist of more than 350 items, said Dr. Robert Mitchell, chief medical inspector in Washington, D.C.

From a press release by Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders:

“Believe me, I tried to find a deficiency,” Mitchell told the Jackson County Legislature. “We want to make sure that we don’t hand out zero deficiencies in a way that just anyone can get them.”

He came personally to present the accreditation to Dr. Mary Dudley, Jackson County chief medical examiner.

The inspection checklist covers everything from office space and safety to tissue donations and mass disaster plans.

Members logging into the association website to download samples of how best to implement policies will be shown documents from Jackson County.

“I like that.” Dr. Dudley said.

The accreditation procedures are part of a national upgrade in the practice of forensics, she said.

In some Missouri counties, a coroner can still be elected despite no medical training, she said. “In one county, a high school student was elected coroner.”

Jackson County’s professional staff already provides full-service death investigations for Cass, Clay and Platte counties, she said, and the future will see professional medical examiner offices like Jackson County become more regional.

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