Q. After death occurs, where will the deceased be taken?
A. He/She will be taken to the office of the Coroner located at:
1946 3rd Ave. "B"
Longview, Washington, unless released to a funeral home.Q. Is
it necessary for me to come to the center to identify the body?
A. No. In the majority of the cases, visual identification is not necessary.
Q. Is viewing allowed?
A. We discourage viewing in the facility and request that arrangements be
made for viewing at the funeral home.
Q. Why is the office of the Cowlitz County Coroner involved?
A. State law (RCW
68.50.010)
authorizes the coroner to determine the cause of death and the circumstances
of death in certain situations.
These generally consist of unattended deaths, where the cause of death is
not established or where the circumstances of the death indicate that death
was caused by unnatural or unlawful means or death occurs under suspicious
circum-stances.
Q. Will an autopsy be performed?
A. An autopsy will be performed when there is a need to establish a cause of
death or in cases where criminal proceedings may follow. The Coroner may not
perform an autopsy if the cause of death can be adequately determined and is
from natural causes.
Q. How long will it take before the body is released by your office?
A. It generally takes approximately one or two days to complete our
examination. In some cases, it might take slightly longer.
Q. What should I do now?
A. You should select a funeral home and notify the funeral director that the
death is being handled by the office of the Cowlitz County Coroner. The
funeral home will notify us to release the body to the funeral home you have
selected.
Q. Who has the responsibility for the arrangements of the deceased?
A. According to state law, the next-of-kin, the guardian, or other
responsible party.
Q. Will an autopsy report be available?
A. Reports and records of autopsies or post-mortems shall be confidential
except to the personal family representative or family member, attending
physician, prosecuting attorney, or law enforcement agencies having
jurisdiction, public health officials or the Department of Labor and
Industries in cases which it has an interest.
The Coroner or his representative may meet with the family of the
deceased person upon request to discuss the findings of the autopsy.
Q. Do I have to pay for the autopsy performed?
A. No.
Q. When will a death certificate be issued?
A. A death certificate will be issued at the time the body is released to
the funeral home. The funeral director is responsible for filing the death
certificate with the
Cowlitz County Health Department and will provide the next-of-kin with
certified copies upon request.
Frequently, an exact cause or manner of death is not determined at the
completion of the autopsy. Special laboratory testing or investigation may
need to be performed and, depending on the complexity, such tests may not be
available for up to six to eight weeks. In such cases a death certificate
will be issued with "pending further investigation" and will be amended once
the cause of death is established.
Q. Where can I obtain a copy of the death certificate?
A. A copy of the death certificate may be provided by the funeral director
or may be obtained from the vital statistics section of the
Cowlitz County Health Department, phone number
360.414.5575,
or the county in which the death occurred.
Q. Will the personal effects be released to the family?
A. Yes, the personal effects can be released to the family with proper
identification. These may also be released to the funeral home with the
deceased.
Q. Will it be possible to donate organs or tissue?
A. Yes. When the family wishes to make donations, members of the staff of
the Cowlitz County Coroner's Office will make the necessary arrangements.
These generally consist of transferring the deceased to the donor bank
for removal of the organs or tissues, as desired by the family. Further
information can be obtained from the regional donor bank: The
Pacific Northwest Transplant Bank
(PNTB), based in Portland, Or. |
