The Department of Pathology at WMed is heavily engaged in county fatality review teams, including Child Death Review (CDR), Overdose Fatality Review (OFR) and Elder Death Review (EDR).
Supported by MDHHS since late 2020 through the Prevent Elder & Vulnerable Adult Abuse, Exploitation, Neglect Today program, the Department of Pathology has developed, coordinated, and conducted Elder Death Review in many of the counties served by the Medical Examiner’s Office at WMed. These multidisciplinary teams are known as Elder Death Review Teams (EDRTs) and are composed of experts in the field of elderly care and justice, including but not limited to representatives from law enforcement, the Medical Examiner’s Office, the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Area Agency on Aging, Adult Protective Services, Long-term Care Ombudsman Program, Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and local geriatricians. Some of these county EDRT meetings are hosted quarterly, while others are hosted monthly, dependent on county population and need. Some EDRTs cover multiple counties, as well.
The goal of Elder Death Review is to examine the death of an elderly or vulnerable adult to identify system gaps and improve victim services in hopes of preventing premature within this vulnerable population deaths in the future. These teams work hard to develop actionable recommendations or policy changes and are vital to harm reduction and prevention efforts.
If you’d like to learn more about EDRTs, please email bo.collins@wmed.edu.