Chemical and Physical Injury

The lecture was titled "Chemical and Physical Injury", and here's a few quotations from my pre-reading for the class:

"Specific Objectives. Be able to discuss the following:
. . . 11. Mechanism of death by electrocution and lightning.
12. How to distinguish gunshot injuries at various distances.
13. Definitions, types, and features of the various asphyxiations.
(Morbid, huh. It does boggle my mind a little that I may actually have to someday apply these learning Objectives.)

I. Chemical Injury
A. Ethyl Alcohol (ethanol)
. . . 5. Neurological complications: . . . The combination of cerebral atrophy and intoxication predisposes and alcoholic to intracranial subdural hemorrhage from ground level falls.
(This is the fanciest way possible to say, "drinking kills your brain cells, and when drunk on top of having a small brain, alcoholics easily fall over and seriously hurt themselves.")

G. Cocaine
. . . Rectal insertion of crack (butt crack) is also an effective means of cocaine administration. While there are no good studies on bioavailability regarding this method, anatomic consideration support this as an effective route. . .
(Huh.)

II. Physical Injury. . .
B. Sharp Force Injury
. . . 3. Chops: A chop (axe) wound may also be categorized as a type of sharp force injury. These injuries often combine elements of blunt and sharp force trauma. An example of this is an incision and fracture produced by an axe blow to the head. . .

G. Environmental Hypothermia
. . . 3. A unique feature of deaths due to hypothermia is paradoxical undressing. Near death, an individual may experience burning paresthesia and subsequently take off clothing. This is often very confusing to uninitiated death investigators. . .

H. Asphyxiation (Adult content here)
. . . 5. Autoerotic asphyxiation: A unique form of asphyxia occurs in the setting of self-induced hypoxia during autoerotic activity. Orgasm is reportedly heightened by non-lethal hypoxia. In fact, many volunteers in the blood-pressure-cuff-around-the-neck study indicated a degree of pleasure from the experience. . . Because of the short duration needed to lose consciousness, individuals engaging in this activity are at risk for death. Do not try this at home."
(Say what?!? First-- who would volunteer for a study where you get a blood pressure cuff put around your neck. And second-- I think I will make a point of never trying this at home.)