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Data and Statistics

Statistics of Interest

Forensic Laboratories and Medical Examiner

The Regional Forensic Science Center is comprised of the Forensic Laboratories and Pathology Divisions. The laboratories provide Biology/DNA, Drug Identification, Firearms, Fire Debris, and Toxicology Antemortem services to law enforcement agencies, and Toxicology Postmortem services to the District Coroner/Medical Examiner. 

The District Coroner/Medical Examiner's Office provides death investigations and autopsy services to Sedgwick County and surrounding area.

A core mission of the Regional Forensic Science Center is to collaborate with public health stakeholders to prevent deaths and improve the physical wellbeing of citizens throughout the region. In pursuit of this, our Medical Investigations and Drug Identification Laboratory are currently engaging in a project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to gather data from drugs and drug paraphernalia found at scenes of death. This data provides real-time information about lethal drugs distributed locally and is shared with the Sedgwick County Health Department, the CDC, and our community. The program is Overdose Data to Action (OD2A) and focuses on tracking the overdose crisis and integrating data with prevention strategies.

Our Drug Identification Laboratory commonly tests items that contain a mixture of more than one substance, which are known as polysubstances. This poses a greater threat to the user and adds to the complexity of testing. When a user combines multiple drugs, even intentionally, it creates unpredictable and more severe effects than a single substance alone.

  • For example, mixing opioids with other depressants like alcohol or benzodiazepines drastically increases the risk of respiratory depression and fatal overdose.