Rectal temperature time of death nomogram: dependence of corrective factors on the body weight under stronger thermic insulation conditions

Abstract

Ninety-eight test coolings were made under various cooling conditions (moving air, two types of both clothing and covering) on dummies of real masses of 1, 3.3, 9.9, 24.5 and 33.4 kg, respectively, which cool under standard conditions (unclothed, uncovered, still air) like human bodies of 14, 33, 41, 83 and 104 kg, respectively. The results provide evidence of a non-linear dependence of corrective factors of body weight upon the body weight. The dynamics of the dependence increases with the thickness of thermic insulation. Transferred to the use of the nomogram method on bodies, cooling conditions requiring corrective factors between 0.75 (moving air) and 1.3 (rather thin clothing/covering), known from experience on bodies of an average weight, can be used as in the past, independent of the body weight. According to experience the dependence of corrective factors on the body weight must be taken into account in bodies of a very high or low body weight. For that purpose both a simplified table and a formula for computing is given.