The Coroner/Medical Examiner Program teaches students how to document death scenes, recognize injuries, take scene photographs and communicate with families.
Most people never see what happens in the hours after a death, when investigators arrive to document what occurred and begin the process of finding answers.
In Washington, that behind-the-scenes work is part of the training offered through the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (WSCJTC).
The WSCJTC is widely known for training law enforcement officers, but the agency also trains coroners, medical examiners, and medicolegal investigators who respond to deaths across the state.
Jennifer Pendray leads the commission’s Coroner/Medical Examiner Program.
The program teaches students how to document death scenes, recognize injuries, take scene photographs, and communicate with families.
Some of that training takes place in the commission’s Mock City, where students work through staged scenes before they face those situations in the field.
The goal is to give investigators a place to practice the science, documentation, and difficult conversations that come with the job before they are called to a real scene.
More information about the program can be found here.
