Records Request

Claudia Cramer filed this request with the State Medical Examiner Office of Anchorage, AK.
Status
Completed

Communications

From: Claudia Cramer

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Alaska Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

To Whom It May Concern:
Under the Alaska Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

Any lists for deaths/examinations/autopsies performed by the Aleutians East Borough Medical Examiner & Coroner, Aleutians West County Medical Examiner & Coroner, Anchorage County Medical Examiner & Coroner, Bristol Bay Borough Medical Examiner & Coroner, City And Borough Of Juneau Medical Examiner & Coroner, City And Borough Of Sitka Medical Examiner & Coroner, City And Borough Of Wrangell Medical Examiner & Coroner, City And Borough Of Yakutat Medical Examiner & Coroner, Fairbanks North Star Borough Medical Examiner & Coroner, Haines Borough Medical Examiner & Coroner, Kenai Peninsula Borough Medical Examiner & Coroner, Ketchikan Gateway Borough Medical Examiner & Coroner, Kodiak Island Borough Medical Examiner & Coroner, Lake And Peninsula Borough Medical Examiner & Coroner, Matanuska-Susitna Borough Medical Examiner & Coroner, Municipality Of Skagway Medical Examiner & Coroner, North Slope Borough Medical Examiner & Coroner, and Northwest Arctic Borough Medical Examiner & Coroner from December 1, 2020 to June 1, 2022.

I allow for the editing of information which is not able to be released under statute. No documents should be withheld, but only if necessary, information not able to be released under law may be edited.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
If there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
The requested records would be helpful if they include but not be limited to the following:
1. Case Number
2. Decedent’s Name
3. Age
4. Date of Birth
5. Gender
6. Date of Death
7. Cause of Death
8. Manner of Death (And if there is information on whether or not COVID was listed as the COD, please provide).
9. County of Death
10. Place of Death
11. Address of Death
12. City of Death
13. Zip Code of Death
14. Date of Death Year
15. 15. Any other accessible, non-exempt information contained in electronic case records

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

Please let me know if I need to contact other departments to get the information for other Alaska counties and boroughs.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Claudia Cramer

From: Claudia Cramer

To whom it may concern,

This a follow up to a previous records request sent on June 17, 2022. Please respond to this request or send any further questions about this request.

Sincerely,

Claudia Cramer

From: State Medical Examiner Office

By statute we only release information to family and law enforcement

From: Claudia Cramer

You cannot even release the amount of deaths that were examined or autopsies performed? Or the manner of deaths for those examinations?

Suncerely,

Claudia Cramer

From: State Medical Examiner Office

We can't release manner of death for specific cases. If you are looking for something specific (i.e., number of suicides) we can give you that number for a specific date range.

From: Claudia Cramer

Thank you for clarifying. May you give me the number of homicides, suicides, and accidents that are were examined or had autopsies performed from December 1, 2020 to June 1, 2022? Okay would it also be possible to include the cause of death such as motor vehicle accident or gunshot wound?

Sincerely,

Claudia Cramer

From: State Medical Examiner Office

I’ve referred your request to our Operations Administrator, Anne Waisanen

From: Claudia Cramer

Thank you for your help. I look forward to communicating with Anne Waisanen.

Sincerely,

Claudia Cramer

From: State Medical Examiner Office

Dear Claudia,

Numbers for 2022 would not be correct/current as of today due to the delay in additional testing's. I've attached the information I have readily available below.
Exam Trends
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Autopsy
585
609
517
545
543
591
External
245
245
231
286
308
248
Head Post
23
17
26
42
40
69
Consult
222
241
276
306
323
447
Trends in Manner of Death
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Natural
313
312
319
336
400
404
Accident
433
456
426
481
474
604
Suicide
191
200
177
214
204
217
Homicide
66
77
62
87
61
52
Undetermined
70
67
71
61
75
78

In 2021, we had 119 deaths related to MVA and 181 deaths due to firearms. To obtain those numbers for prior years would take me a little more time to compute.

Regards,
Ann'e
Ann'e Waisanen
Operations Administrator/Medicolegal Investigator IV
Alaska State Medical Examiner's Office
5455 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave
Anchorage, AK 99507
Main: 907-334-2200 Direct 907-334-2202

For immediate assistance, please contact the SMEO Main Office.
To expedite processing, please courtesy copy: medical.examiner@alaska.gov<mailto:medical.examiner@alaska.gov> when submitting forms

From: Claudia Cramer

Hello Ann'e Waisanen,

Thank you for the data you have given me so far. Would you tell me the number of homicides related to firearms, sharp force injuries, blunt force trauma, poisoning, suffocation, and other miscellaneous causes? Is it possible to get the same set of data for suicides as well? The number of suicides related to hanging, firearm injuries, blunt force trauma, overdose/poisoning, and other miscellaneous causes? Also for the Jan-Jun 2022 data, would that be available by Jan 2023?

Sincerely,

Claudia Cramer

From: State Medical Examiner Office

Good Morning,

At this time, I will not be able to fill that request. Our database doesn't easily extract that information. I would suggest reaching out to the Vital Records Department.

Regards,
Ann'e
Ann'e Waisanen
Operations Administrator/Medicolegal Investigator IV
Alaska State Medical Examiner's Office
5455 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave
Anchorage, AK 99507
Main: 907-334-2200 Direct 907-334-2202

For immediate assistance, please contact the SMEO Main Office.
To expedite processing, please courtesy copy: medical.examiner@alaska.gov<mailto:medical.examiner@alaska.gov> when submitting forms

From: Claudia Cramer

Ann'e,

Thank you for the help you've given me so far. I appreciate your time.

Regards,

Claudia Cramer

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