Verifying death
Guidelines for verifying death, including information about the process for verifying death, and roles and responsibilities.
Pātiki and Waharua Kōpito patterns
Verification of death means the act of establishing that a person is dead and recording the time, place, and date of that assessment. Verification of death is established through clinical assessment for the absence of signs of life.
Medical practitioners, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, enrolled nurses, registered midwives, emergency medical technicians, registered paramedics, and some Police specialists are authorised by the Chief Coroner to verify death, including deaths which meet the criteria for reporting to the coroner.
In most cases, the health practitioner who verifies death and documents the assessment will be requested to do so by the Police because the death is a coronial case.