I am an RN and work in a nursing home/rehab center. I find the testimony of the ME very strange in that she would say ANY head injury is insignificant by looking at a picture. My patients fall, often. Our floor is concrete. If there is any chance that a patient hit their head we have a huge protocol we follow that includes vital signs on a timed schedule, frequent neuro checks, alertness, movements. Why? because every health care personnel is taught that head injuries OFTEN do not appear for hours to days, which is why our protocol is to watch intently for 3 days and then up to 6 weeks. I have seen more injuries than I would like to as to the effects of hitting your head on concrete, even one time. I've seen people with bruises in places you are sitting there thinking "how the heck did that bruise get THERE?". So for a medical examiner to brush this off as insignificant boggles my mind. Maybe she knows something we don't? I'd sure love to tell my patient "aww that's just insignificant, you will live" and move on and not have to do all that extra paperwork and assessments. IMO, her testimony as to that was absurd.
