Specifications include, but are not limited to:. The Provider will be required to provide telephone coverage and complete the described work during all hours that the OCME is not open for regular business. This normally includes from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. Monday through Friday and all hours during weekends and 12 recognized State holidays per year. On occasion the Provider would be required to cover on other shut down days, including snow days, other weather or sudden shut down of the office during regular business hours. It also includes other times when, due to storms or other emergency situations, the OCME is closed. The specifications of work to be performed are as follows: A. The Provider must have trained individuals who personally answer the telephone calls forwarded from the OCME to the Provider’s telephone. Each Provider staff member performing these services must successfully complete a criminal background check and possess the necessary qualifications to interact with law enforcement, physicians, investigators, and other official personnel. B. Record the information needed for case reports, in computer format using the web-based program “MDILog” by Ora Inc. (provided by OCME), and preliminary classification of the case investigation, with the assistance of the on-call physician or medicolegal death investigator when necessary and to determine whether the report constitutes either a medical examiner case, autopsy, examination, or scene response. C. Take appropriate action, pursuant to supplied instructions, with reference to dispatching medical examiners, coordinating case information with police, obtaining records from hospitals and physicians, collecting medical histories, scene photos, suicide notes, arranging for transportation of bodies for autopsies and other related matters. D. Maintain up-to-date medical examiner, police, medical facility, and funeral home directories. E. Report and discuss cases and action taken, according to established protocol, to the next shift or OCME, for the end or beginning of a shift. F. Reports of all matters handled during the shift must be sent to the OCME immediately upon the close of the shift. The Provider will be required to submit reports and other information to the OCME via computer over a high-speed cable, DSL type of system. Fax machines will still have to be maintained by the Provider to be used as backup in the event there are computer problems. G. Contact the physician on-call (Chief Medical Examiner, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, or the designee of the Chief Medical Examiner) whenever there is a question about any case, or when policy dictates. H. Arrange for forwarding of the telephone line to other providers or the OCME when necessary.
