Through funding supplied by the bureau of justice assistances paul coverdell forensic science improvement grants program, the county of lehigh seeks to improve the quality of forensic services at…

This federal Project Grant award of $409,500.00 from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (CFDA 16.742 - Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grant Program) will enable the County of Lehigh, Pennsylvania to improve the quality of forensic services at the Lehigh County Coroner's Office. The funding will be used to acquire a post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) scanner, which will supplement traditional autopsy protocols and enhance the information available to forensic pathologists. This investment is expected to improve the accuracy of death investigations, reduce case backlogs, and minimize turnaround times, ultimately benefiting law enforcement, the district attorney's office, and surviving family members. The grant award period runs from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2027.

Through funding supplied by the bureau of justice assistances paul coverdell forensic science improvement grants program, the county of lehigh seeks to improve the quality of forensic services at the lehigh county coroner's office by adding post-mortem computed tomography (pmct) scan. The impact of funding will ensure that all investigations are conducted to the highest degree, providing the most accurate causation of death for our primary shareholders, the surviving family members of the deceased. External shareholders that will benefit from pmct are the numerous law enforcement and district attorney's offices served within lehigh county and the commonwealth of pennsylvania, and the forensic pathologists with forensic pathology associates/lehigh valley health network. The 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 pmct for much valuable use into the study of trauma for future developments into treatment and prevention. For death investigations, in conjunction with a full body view and physical examination, obtaining a pmct will greatly enhance the information provided to the forensic pathologist before an autopsy is performed. The use of pmct in advance of a physical examination will aid managing our death investigations, particularly with the decisions on whether forensic pathologists are to perform a full autopsy, partial autopsy, correlate choices in ancillary tests or the ability to honor a family's religious objection request for no autopsy. This capability will improve overall services and help minimize case backlog and case turn-around time. The primary objective of a obtaining a pmct scan is not to supplant, but rather to supplement autopsy protocol. Studies have shown that both pmct and traditional autopsy reveal findings that are missed by the other method. The combination of pmct and autopsy revealed significantly more findings than autopsy alone, suggesting that the combination of pmct and autopsy may be a more appropriate "gold standard" than autopsy alone. A readily available pmct would benefit the entire lehigh valley health network team in the training and implementation of improved treatment, safety measures, equipment: all designed to protect and minimize the chance of death in the future.