Through the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA’s) Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner System (ME/C) Program, Lehigh County Coroner’s Office (LCCO) of Allentown, Pennsylvania improved their professional standards and services by achieving accreditation through the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME). Obtaining NAME accreditation represents a “seal of approval” from a community consisting of medical examiners, forensic pathologists, and medicolegal partners across the nation. This achievement signifies that LCCO upholds death investigation standards that are of the highest level, benefiting the working relationships with numerous outside agencies, including forensic pathology physicians, law enforcement, district attorney’s offices, medical community, and most importantly the families LCCO serves. LCCO is one of a handful of medicolegal death investigation offices in the country that holds accreditation with both NAME and the International Association of Corner’s & Medical Examiners (IACME).
Since receiving the ME/C Program award and obtaining NAME accreditation, LCCO has experienced notable benefits. The achievement of NAME accreditation, along with the previously obtained IACME accreditation, has proven to be a valuable factor in securing several grant awards, totaling more than half a million dollars over the past year and a half. For example, through funding awarded under BJA’s FY24 Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants (Coverdell) Program, LCCO will purchase and integrate postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) into daily operations. This particular funding is also an investment into training and education which can provide untold benefits. An additional external shareholder, Lehigh Valley Health Network Trauma Physicians Group, will utilize the results from the PMCT studies in conjunction with the autopsy reports from the forensic pathologists to review trauma deaths, including emergency medical therapy provided, and compare this information to those individuals that survive similar incidents in order to develop prevention and treatment strategies to reduce morbidity and mortality.
