Are there state or national guidelines for investigating the sudden death of infants?
A death scene investigation is an integral part of a SIDS/SUID diagnosis to rule out accidental, environmental and unnatural causes and to provide information to researchers on risk factors. In 2004 the CDC launched an initiative to improve the investigation and reporting of SIDS/SUID, in collaboration with other federal agencies and organizations representing medical examiners, coroners, death scene investigators, emergency medical personnel, law enforcement officials, SIDS researchers, infant death review experts, and SIDS parents. As part of this effort, on March 1, 2006, CDC released the Sudden, Unexplained Infant Death Investigation (SUIDI) Reporting Form for state and local use in infant death scene investigations. The SUIDI Reporting Form replaces the Investigation Report Form that accompanied the 1996 Guidelines for the Death Scene Investigation of Sudden, Unexplained Infant Death. Currently, approximately half of the states have mandatory autopsy legislation for the sudden dea
