images/isrrt/Newsletter Nov 2009.pdf

ReportForensic RadiologyThe International Association of ForensicRadiographers Annual Conference 2009Manchester Conference CentreSeptember 12, 2009This year’s annual conference of the IAFR took placeat the Manchester Conference Centre on Saturday 12thSeptember 2009. The highly successful event, sponsoredby Xograph, was attended by over 100 delegates, somecoming from as far afield as Ireland, the Netherlands andeven Australia!After registration, the day began in earnest with awarm welcome from Catherine Rock, Chair of the IAFR,to all the delegates, speakers & committee memberswho had travelled from far and wide to attend the event.Catherine then introduced Sandy Yule, General Secretaryof the International Society of Radiographers & RadiologicTechnologists (ISRRT) who gave his opening address,taking examples from film and television to illustratehow important and interesting the world of forensics hasbecome to members of the general public. Sandy alsomade comparisons with some famous forensic charactersfrom literature and television, to some of the lecturers thathad kindly agreed to speak to us, proving that although theentertainment industry might make the job look easy, thejob does indeed get done by a wide and varying range ofhighly skilled and professional individuals.Before the lectures began, it was announced the FUJIhad donated a study award of £100 (A$180). As a result ofthis, one delegate was awarded a cheque to cover the cost oftheir registration fee. All names went into an envelope andthe winner was picked at random by Sandy Yule. WilliamPriestley, an APT from the Glasgow Police Mortuary, wasthe lucky recipient of the award and is seen below leftcollecting his prize from Sandy YuleWe were honoured to have the first lecture of the day,our keynote address, presented by Professor Gil BrogdonMD (pictured below), Forensic Radiologist & EmeritusProfessor of the University of South Alabama and IAFRpatron.Professor Brogdon’s lecture, entitled ‘Who are we?Where have we come from & where are we going?– Forensic Radiology: Past, Present & Future’, gave afascinating insight into the history of forensic radiographydating back to 1896 when the first forensic x-ray was shownat a conference and demonstrated how both localisationand extraction of a bullet was helped by the use ofradiography. As a result of this, both the cause and mannerof death was proved, and this would not have been possiblewithout the use of a simplex-ray. Professor Brogdonthen continued to chartthe use of forensic x-raysthrough history discussinghow they became invaluablein cases of professionalmalpractice, postal fraud& false documentationas well as how they wereused in cases against both apotential diamond thief and afraudulent diamond broker!The professor continuedshowing how radiographymade its way into the worldof forensic science and toldof how, in 1921, a document20 ISRRT Newsletter