Medical examiner reports higher suicides in 2024, proposes therapy dog for staff support

The Washington County medical examiner presented the office’s 2024 annual report to the Public Safety Committee, reporting a rise in suicides over the past five years, a decline in some drug-related deaths, staffing changes and improved laboratory turnaround times. The medical examiner also asked the committee to "test the waters" on the idea of introducing a therapy dog for staff support.

In the report, the medical examiner said drug-related statistics for a younger cohort (age 11–12 referenced in the report) have declined, while suicide numbers have trended upward, with last year a record high not seen since 2016. The medical examiner noted that overall caseloads so far in 2025 include 24 occupancies, 55 scenes and 31 transports, and that the office is slightly ahead of last year’s caseload. On forensic testing, the medical examiner said autopsy-case turnaround had improved: "We only have 5 of our 24 autopsy cases still pending. All of our external exams are signed out," and that death-certificate turnaround improved from about 23 days to about two weeks.

The medical examiner described a medication-donation effort: staff collect unopened or unused prescriptions at scenes and have arranged for a free clinic outside Washington County to accept and redistribute donations. The office also reported community engagement events and use of interns to support staffing.

The medical examiner said the office lost a full-time employee in April and plans to replace that position with two part-time staff to increase flexibility and reduce burnout. "I think it's gonna give us a lot more flexibility, less on qualifying, less chance for burnout for my staff," the medical examiner said.

On the therapy-dog proposal (item 3c), the medical examiner described the concept as a shared county resource with the medical examiner’s office as the primary handler and an office colleague as secondary. "I can't think of anything better than coming back from a hard call and getting some puppy cuddles," the medical examiner said, arguing that a therapy dog could support employee retention and mental health. The medical examiner said policies and county-attorney review would be required for liability and use, that the dog would not be taken to incident scenes, and that an animal-donation foundation might provide initial training; ongoing food and veterinary costs were estimated to fall into roughly the "low to $2,000" range depending on care.

Committee members asked about liability, who would be the handler, where the dog would be kept and whether the medical examiner's office was the right place for the resource. One committee member said they were not opposed to the idea but questioned whether the medical examiner’s office would get the most use from the dog and suggested it might be more useful in other departments. Another committee member noted successful experience with a similar dog used by the Germantown Police Department and encouraged proceeding with further work.

There was no formal committee vote recorded on the therapy-dog proposal; committee members expressed no formal opposition and directed the medical examiner to continue assessing the idea, including policy, liability and cost questions, and to consult county legal staff before any acquisition.

Ending: The committee received the medical examiner’s report and allowed staff to continue exploring a therapy dog as a staff-support option, subject to policy, insurance and operational clarifications.