Request for death records

Dear Kyra Senese:
We are in receipt of your public records request, received on 3/25/2021, and are responding to it on behalf of the King County Executive Branch only per King County Code 2.12.005 and 2.12.230(B). Your request has been assigned tracking number G002638-032521.

We are currently gathering and reviewing the records responsive to your request. Please reply to this email if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
King County Executive Branch

To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the Public Records Request System (https://u8387778.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=6HtRfOYLt5fXvpttM-2FU1HbCEvhyJajy29FOdQx-2FGVwa3heKW32oH6xOd0YvjOzCmRiVPhVYHNMddcY9XXFq7g5D3d0YXPtGN69I961U2c3w-3DnFbL_0Nnkrj6JnfOxOWINPXfuX1pmOW8gCyxTlpgyCC5nbCAdBlMjxZdOmHehDWsUEXuxN6SJGiTKLfeQ7LnD8CjjGDbiDGWDNHb7TRnf4Lm-2BZhpLHG266QRLE5aLKrxHl-2F-2BsWVgUG5SqnkUNP1i666gkmtNRO2lsI6fAZXO0dsnPE16oLkJSTEHpn-2F4mV3XHdyqy60WnYK0buxMVP-2FTnIJxPCAmGrrbctKHWFVxuhoOtcPWvj-2Bb3Vwbk1pqGZ2v1lrOGwkeQ9lzYD1zrTae1B1l6lnMW0Q1KBgS-2BneVM7bXt-2FrSif3yASIbEvIRHguIz8K9yfE-2FjzoGthfYKrQfg8280FuWhmbxLyRAg-2BMeB9bKpye4y-2FfxLSF7A-2Br2E1PGESY0gSF-2Ft65m2cL3jzWdPRV4XXA-3D-3D)

Kyra Senese,

Thank you for registering with King County Public Records System.  The system services public records requests for the King County Executive Branch, King County Assessor's Office, and King County Ombuds Office. If you have never used this system, your account has been created by a staff person at King County.

Once your email address has been verified, you can log in to the system to update any contact or password information and to track the progress of your request.


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Regards,
King County Executive Branch



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March 25, 2021 Re: G002638-032521 Dear Kyra Senese: We received the your public records request described below on March 25, 2021 and are responding to it on behalf of the King County Executive Branch only per King County Code 2.12.005 and 2.12.230(B).  Your request has been assigned tracking number G002638-032521. Your request is for the following: "This is a request pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. We are requesting all death r cords
dating back to Aug. 12 to Oct. 21, 2020, with the following information for each case:
- case number
- decedent name
- date of death
- location of death
- race
- ethnicity
- age
- gender
- occupation/industry
- whether injury/infection occurred at work
- incident location (street address, city, state, ZIP where injury/infection occurred
- incident date
- decedent residence (street address, city, state, ZIP)
- cause (s) of death (indicating if COVID related)
- contributing factors

- any other non-exempt information contained in case records

This request is part of an ongoing collaboration involving the Brown Institute for Media
Innovation, the Johns. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University, the MuckRock
Foundation and partner newsrooms across the country. This request is part o a news- gathering
process and is intended for educational, not commercial use.

We request expedited processing to the extent possible. This information is critic1 1 to the
public's understanding of the coronavirus pandemic and its local impact on public health. Let us
know if we can help clarify this request in any way. Pease also consider waiving any fees for
producing the requested records.
Please provide the data in spreadsheet format as an e- mail attachment.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. We look forward to
receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires."
We are currently gathering and reviewing responsive records. We anticipate that we should be able to make a first installment of responsive records, should they exist, available to you in approximately 4-6 weeks. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Shelby Miklethun Program Manager 206-263-9772 To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the Public Records Request System (https://u8387778.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=6HtRfOYLt5fXvpttM-2FU1HbCEvhyJajy29FOdQx-2FGVwa3heKW32oH6xOd0YvjOzCmm-2FiWbSEPJXEM9nE4rjPMHfoE-2F9LQgKAO-2FRA6v7OZda0Dd5pDA-2BirG90w47LeBuNrcd5nxNo0atyq-2FnWxn0sGuQ-3D-3DKGOY_0Nnkrj6JnfOxOWINPXfuX1pmOW8gCyxTlpgyCC5nbCAdBlMjxZdOmHehDWsUEXuxN6SJGiTKLfeQ7LnD8CjjGDbiDGWDNHb7TRnf4Lm-2BZhqeRzSlKcMv8a-2FwEzRPGyRAPqjCDCEQHUVGEBCUZl7KHAndSnvNBogk4kqrldXZZQIzSErdUmHPQUOXxq48n7gXbaNxffP2hGpbOgkb41i-2FrMPor0rfiX0bWCZeK8H1Gn1C5j6aXTCu7H2tWOO-2BLSNgAH1tretvx-2F1CYN7EtYTiGYzUDuclgd4bg7zcgTbP1H-2F1oBYM7qAU3xvmNbAXIiwDOKEgoteBdV1mYB8SIU5zSASlFOu753GKkIOYtaOr2UJplwxmwXKhMZpaXlaI-2FL3uj2Ig2oU-2FndfKPOrPo64Ktw-3D-3D)

Hello Kyra,

I am in receipt of your public records request and would like to clarify if you are interested in COVID related MEO records or all MEO medical records within the stated time frame. Once you have clarified this portion of your request we can begin preparing the responsive records for release.

Thank you,
Charlotte Nickles (she/her)
206-263-8677
Health Information, Release and Records Management
Public Health - Seattle & King County

Hello Kyra,

Attached is a spreadsheet containing the information you have requested. The King County MEO has limited jurisdiction and if you would like a wider range of responsive records for this request contact the Center for Health Statistics. We do not disclose name, address of incident, and decedent address out of respect for the decedent and families. All demographic information is preliminary. The role of this office is to determine cause and manner of death, and we do not do a lot of research into demographics-that is done by funeral homes when they do the death certificate. We have some limited information on occupation, but it's rarely included. We don't have information about whether something happened at work. We now consider this request to be closed.

The KCMEO is obligated to provide this information under Washington state law, but we ask you to exercise extreme caution in how you use it. These families have not volunteered to make this information public. Publicizing the identities of families' deceased loved ones may compound their loss and suffering, and there may be additional ramifications to families by connecting them to a COVID-19 death. Please keep the interests of these families paramount in your considerations.

Thank you,
Charlotte Nickles (she/her)
206-263-8677
Health Information, Release and Records Management
Public Health - Seattle & King County