Orange County NC Website
S 130A-383 . Medical examiner jurisdiction. <br /> (a) Upon the death of any person resulting from violence, poisoning , <br /> accident, suicide or homicide ; occurring suddenly when the deceased <br /> had been in apparent good health or when unattended by a physician ; <br /> occurring in a jail , prison, correctional institution or in police <br /> custody ; occurring pursuant to Article 19 of Chapter 15 of the General <br /> Statutes; or occurring under any suspicious, unusual or unnatural <br /> circumstance, the medical examiner of the county in which the body of <br /> the deceased is found shall be notified by a physician in attendance , <br /> hospital employee, law-enforcement officer, funeral home employee, <br /> emergency medical technician, relative or by any other person having <br /> suspicion of such a death. No person shall disturb the body at the <br /> scene of such a death until authorized by the medical examiner unless <br /> in the unavailability of the medical examiner it is determined by the <br /> appropriate law enforcement agency that the presence of the body at • <br /> the scene would risk the integrity of the body or provide a hazard to <br /> the safety of others. For the limited purposes of this Part, expres- <br /> sion of opinion that death has occurred may be made by a nurse, an <br /> emergency medical technician or any other competent person in the <br /> absence of a physician. <br /> (b ) The discovery of anatomical material suspected of being part of <br /> a human body shall be reported to the medical examiner of the county <br /> in which the material is found. <br /> (c ) Upon completion of the investigation and in accordance with the <br /> rules of the Commission, the medical examiner shall release the body <br /> to the next of kin or other interested person who will assume respon- <br /> sibility for final disposition . <br /> 2 <br />