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Proclamation honoring all forensic disciplines within the Forensic Laboratory of the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office for receiving accreditation on March 17, 2014 from the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB).
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WHEREAS, on March 17, 2014, the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB) granted the Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiner Forensic Laboratory accreditation for a period of five (5) years; and
WHEREAS, the scope of accreditation includes all Forensic Disciplines within the Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiner Forensic Laboratory, including the following:
The Drug Chemistry section annually fields 6,000 cases of suspected controlled substances, mostly involving cocaine base (crack), heroin, and marijuana. Drug chemists have become active in the investigation and seizure of surreptitious drug labs in the area. Their responsibilities include dismantling the labs and securing evidence for further analysis. They are also responsible for running various presumptive tests, to figure out what drug they are dealing with, as well as gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to further identify what substances make up the suspected narcotic. In mid-January, a batch of heroin laced with Fentanyl (a synthetic opioid a hundred times more potent than morphine) hit Allegheny County hard, resulting in more than 13 overdoses in less than a week. Within 24 hours, they were not only able to determine that Fentanyl was indeed the added component in the heroin, but determine the stamp-bags, labeled Thera-Flu and Bud Ice, associated with the deadly concoction.
Processing over 1,500 Medical Examiner’s cases as well as over 2,500 DUI (Driving Under the Influence) cases each year, the Toxicology section of the Medical Examiner’s Office is responsible for providing postmortem forensic toxico...
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