Using death certificates and medical examiner records for adolescent occupational fatality surveillance and research: a case study.

Death certificates and medical examiner records have been useful yet imperfect data sources for work-related fatality research and surveillance among adult workers. It is unclear whether this holds for work-related fatalities among adolescent workers who suffer unique detection challenges in part because they are not often thought of as workers. This study investigated the utility of using these data sources for surveillance and research pertaining to adolescent work-related fatalities.

Postmortem ethanol in the setting of ethanol-containing automotive fuel.

The pilot of a light aircraft that crashed after a loss of power was found to have ethanol in the vitreous and the blood, but almost none in the urine. The globes of the eyes were intact, and the body was refrigerated after recovery until the autopsy was performed the following morning. The pilot was described as a "nondrinker," and additional specialized toxicology testing results were inconsistent with ethanol ingestion.

Work-related fatalities among youth ages 11-17 in North Carolina, 1990-2008.

Background: Local and national surveillance systems are in place that identify occupational deaths. However, due to certain restrictions, they are limited in their ability to accurately count these deaths among adolescent workers.

Methods: In this population-based study, we relied on primary data from the North Carolina medical examiner system to identify and describe all work-related fatalities among North Carolina youth under age 18 between 1990 and 2008.

Pattern of injury in child fatalities resulting from child abuse.

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, in 2005, an estimated 1460 children died of maltreatment. The purpose of this study is to further examine the pattern of bony injuries in child maltreatment fatalities, with an emphasis on the prevalence of antemortem fractures and the presence of associated perimortem fractures. The sample was 162 male and female children.

Sudden infant death syndrome risk factors with regards to sleep position, sleep surface, and co-sleeping.

We present a study of 102 Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) deaths using a retrospective review of medical examiner autopsy reports. The prevalence of sleep related risk factors with regards to sleep surface, sleep position, and co-sleeping were determined in a population of infants less than 1-year-old. Of the 102 SIDS deaths, 67 (65.

From gunstore to smoking gun: tracking guns that kill children in North Carolina.

Purpose: This study reviews the epidemiology of pediatric firearm deaths in North Carolina and estimates the time from the retail sale of guns to their involvement in pediatric firearm deaths.

Methods: The authors reviewed autopsy reports for all children 0 to 14 years of age that died of firearm-related injuries in North Carolina from January 1999 through December 2002. Data obtained included demographic information, firearm type, and manner of death.