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About OMI
The Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI) was
created by the New Mexico State Legislature in 1972 and became operational in 1973.
Replacing the county coroner system, the OMI was tasked with investigating all
reportable deaths occurring in New Mexico, to subsequently determine the cause and
manner of death in such cases, and to provide formal death certification.
The OMI is designated as a special program within the Department of Pathology at
the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. A Board of Medical Investigations
comprised of the Dean of the UNM School of Medicine, the Chief of the New Mexico
State Police, the Secretary of Health and Environment Department, the Chairman of
the New Mexico Thanatopractice and the Chairman of the New Mexico Indian Affairs
Commission was established to oversee and develop policy. The Board appoints the
Chief Medical Investigator, a physician licensed in New Mexico, trained in Pathology
and Forensic Medicine, who has responsibility for operations. The program operates
out of a central office located in the UNM Health Sciences Center in Albuquerque,
New Mexico.
The Office of the Medical Investigator directs all investigative activities statewide.
Every county in New Mexico has specially trained and certified Field Deputy Medical
Investigators (FDMI) who conduct field investigations at the scene of
death to collect information. All autopsy services are conducted in the central office
and are performed by forensic pathologists with the assistance of morphology services.
The New Mexico State Laboratory provides the majority of toxicology services with some
specialized tests sent to other laboratories. All documentation is archived by the
Office of the Medical Investigator and is available as provided for by public record statutes and regulations.
Such a strongly defined and professionally staffed system provides investigative agencies,
the medical community and the citizens of New Mexico with standardized death investigation
protocols and central repository for the information compiled during those medicolegal investigations.
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