Asphyxia

You are a well-known death investigator. You are speaking before a group of police officers from small local departments in rural Colorado; officers that get very little experience investigating death scenes other than those precipitated by natural death as a result of illness or advanced age. However, one officer asked you a question during your closing “question and answer” period. She advises you that her agency has had several cases lately involving nursing home patients and high school students who have hung themselves; taking their own lives. However, the autopsy reports from the State Medical Examiner’s office listed each cause of death as “asphyxia.” The officer wants to know what asphyxia is, and why didn’t the cause of death come back as “hanging”? Was the autopsy report wrong using that term “asphyxia”? She also wants to know what to look for when arriving at a “hanging scene”; what common aspects of evidence should be present at hangings? The officer is eager to hear your response to her questions since you are an experienced and well-seasoned death investigator.