Chapter 13
Gasping for Air: Asphyxia
IN THIS CHAPTER
Understanding deaths by asphyxiation
Checking out causes and mechanisms of suffocation
Taking a look at strangulations and hangings
Sniffing out deadly gases
Dealing with drowning deaths
Ever attempt to hold your breath for two minutes? Try it. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Two minutes can seem like an eternity. Now, imagine that you can’t breathe. What if something prevented you from taking a breath or the air that you could breathe in had no oxygen or was laced with a toxic gas? What if the next breath never came? That’s asphyxia — when the body’s cells can’t get oxygen. It can happen in several different ways, each leaving a clue or two for the medical examiner (ME).
Understanding Asphyxia
The air we take into our lungs contains oxygen (O2). After it’s in the lungs’ air sacs, the O2 crosses into the blood, combines with the hemoglobin of the red blood cells, and travels with those red blood cells throughout the body.
Get Forensics For Dummies, 2nd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
