First responders, hospital officials carry heavy burden when deaths occur

Frederick police Sgt. Andrew Alcorn vividly recalls the first time he and another officer told a Frederick couple their son had died in a car crash. Such difficult situations are touched on in training — the subject comes up in the Frederick police academy’s training block on death investigations — but most rookie officers learn much more about how to react by doing what Alcorn did 10 years ago; watching a veteran officer.