The Good Life – May-June 2024

LAST
RESPONDER
Compassion, Empathy and
Understanding Are All Part of the Job
for the Cass County Deputy Coroner
WRITTEN BY: EMMA VATNSDAL
PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA
When it comes to their career, there
are many journeys someone can
take in their life.
For Cass County Deputy Coroner
Darin Haverland, the journey to
being a last responder started with
being one of the first ones on the
scene.
“My first career was as a paramedic
in town here for almost 30 years,”
Haverland said. “I worked both
ground and air, but I needed a
change.”
After speaking with Coroner Kriste
Ross at the scene of an accident,
Haverland filled out an application.
14 | THE GOOD LIFE
“I loved it,” he said. “My background
as a paramedic really complements
what we do. So I started working
part time.”
He accepted a full-time position
in 2016 and was certified by the
American Board of Medicolegal
Death Investigators.
Since then, he and his team have
worked on thousands of cases –
nearly 800 in 2023 alone – and
have brought closure to just as many
families across the United States.
The small but mighty team,
comprised of the coroner, two deputy
coroners and a death investigator,
handles deaths that are labeled as
homicides, suicides, accidental or
undetermined, and their processes
and equipment rival that of much
larger cities.
“We seldom know what cases we’re
going to go on when we get into
work,” said Haverland. “We kind of
have a routine that we go through.
Once or twice a week we all get
together and say ‘who needs help
with what’ or ‘what do you need help
with on your caseload’ and we speak
up. We also go over each other’s
cases, we review documentation
and we try to help each other out as
much as we can.”