Citation

Walter JE, Hirsch CS, Zumwalt RE. Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol. 1984; 5(3): 239-244.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1984, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

6496436

Abstract

For many years, a high blood carboxyhemoglobin concentration has been used as a criterion for determining that a victim of conflagration was alive in the fire. We report a case in which a man died from the combined effects of burns and hypertensive cardiovascular disease. He had a negligible blood carboxyhemoglobin concentration, but the environmental evidence and autopsy findings are indicative of life in the fire, which arose in a smoldering mattress. We conclude that uncritical, rigid adherence to the requirement that fire victims have high carboxyhemoglobin concentrations can be misleading.

Language: en