brainstuff I have a deeply concerning
question for you today what happens when
I die and I don't mean like will I go to
heaven or who gets all my GRU comic
books no I want to know what somebody's
going to do with my dead body when it's
on a slab of cold steel how does an
autopsy work well first of all a word of
warning for our viewers if you're
squeamish you might want to watch a less
gross episode of brain stuff like why is
bird poop white or how do bedbugs work
okay ready
let's start by clarifying that an
autopsy is a medical examination of a
dead body to determine the cause of
death there's two types forensic and
clinical clinical ones are performed for
research medical training or at the
request of the deceased family and
forensic autopsies are the ones you're
used to seeing on TV like when agent
Scully carves into a corpse because the
truth is in there this is often for
legal reasons potentially as evidence in
criminal or civil court cases while the
general procedure is similar for our
purposes let's stick to forensic
autopsies why because I going out like a
punk all legally investigated deaths all
into five categories natural accident
homicide suicide and undetermined yeah
that last one may seem a little
wishy-washy but sometimes the answers
aren't that clear for the attending
medical examiner or coroner and this is
an important distinction forensic
pathologists are physicians trained to
perform autopsies in some counties they
use coroner's instead and a coroner
doesn't necessarily have medical
training they're elected to their
position they can be anyone farmers
snake handlers even YouTube hosts but if
a non-medical coroner ever needs
assistance the state usually provides
them with a medical examiner when that
examiner finally gets a hold of your
cold body here's what they'll do to it
first
they gather information on you your
death and your medical records then they
record an external exam of your
appearance they start by photographing
you inside a body bag no
your clothing and its position before
stripping you naked they try to
establish your identity
noting ethnicity gender age and hair and
eye color then they collect samples of
hair fingernails and any foreign objects
found on your surface once the external
exam is done they clean your body weigh
it and measure it on the table they
place a rubber body block under your
back to make your chest protrude forward
so the arms and neck fall back
this makes it easier for the cutting for
a complete internal exam they start with
the chest making a y-shaped incision
following this they peel back your skin
muscle and soft tissue with a scalpel
pull the chest flap over your face and
expose your ribcage and neck muscles
your ribcage is then removed followed by
your larynx esophagus arteries and
ligaments by severing a few attachments
to your spinal cord bladder and rectum
the examiner can remove the rest of your
organs as an entire set your organs are
each examined and weighed with sample
slices taken of their tissue if
necessary these organs are stored in
formalin depending on how you died they
probably won't cut open your arms hands
legs or face but don't think your head
is off the hook just yet if they need a
peek inside your noggin the examiner
will move the rubber block under your
neck like a pillow then they make a cut
from behind one ear across your forehead
over to the other ear and then around
the back then out comes the electric saw
to pop the top of your skull off like a
cap and expose your brain this is
severed from your spinal cord and then
lifts it out Frankenstein style just
like your other organs it's weighed and
examined what happens to all of those
organs sitting outside of your body
anyway depending on the style of funeral
they're either put back in or
incinerated either way the butterflied
chest flaps are closed the skull cap is
placed back on your head and everything
is sewn up nice and tidy with a baseball
stitch though even after your body goes
off to the funeral home a pathologists
work is never done it takes days to get
tissue and blood samples tested and at
least two weeks for brain samples then
it takes hours more to write up a
detailed report for the official record
keep in mind that this is a brief
overview of the autopsy process we
didn't even get into examining wounds
determining the time of death or what
tools of the trade are used to crack you
open but after all that I've got to ask
what do you want them to do with your
body
afterward bury it burn it dump it into
the sea let us know in the comments
below and for more on cutting flesh
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