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Off-topic: Pathologists debunk myth of Coca-Cola assay

Emergency Management Alert, January 29, 2008

Forgive us, please, us for going off-topic, but what the heck, you're the mass casualty people, aren't you? This item from December's CAP Today was written by two MDs comparing their real-life experiences to scenes from the CSI crime show.

Among the remonstrations: Why are pathologists always shown performing their jobs in low light ("we like to see lethal injuries, not blindly feel our way through them in the dark"); why do TV investigators always contaminate the crime scene (no hairnets! no hairnets!); and why is there is so much emphasis on the victim's last meal?

Of the latter: They recall a conversation with a woman who wanted to know if her daughter had ingested a hamburger and a Coke before death. Specifically. "The best we can do, she was told, is look at the contents of the gastric pouch to see if we recognize any food. There is no massive database, no selection of magical tests that will identify hamburger if the food is fully digested, and no Coca-Cola assay. The poor mother was nonplussed. 'Well, on 'CSI' they have a test..." she said. She had to be informed that television isn't always reality."

We'd give you a link to the exact article, but it didn't always work for us. Go to www.cap.org and click the tab References, Resources, and Publications.

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