When a U.S. Citizen Dies in Nauru

What Happens First:  

If there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death, the body would be taken to the hospital and a certificate of death would be issued by the attending physician. The body would be retained in the hospital mortuary until relatives or friends of the deceased have been contacted.  The mortuary is not capable of long term storage, and generally in the case of non-suspicious deaths, the body is released for burial within 24 hours.

Where a foreign national is concerned and no relatives or friends are in Nauru, the police would make contact with the relevent country’s Diplomatic Mission in the region and request assistance to notify relatives as to what action would be required for the burial or repatriation of the body.

If the death is deemed suspicious the police would be required to investigate the circumstances of the death and would work in conjunction with hospital administrators.
It should be noted that there are no qualified forensic pathologists in Nauru and  post mortems, other than an external visual examination, are not conducted by local hospital staff.

In accordance with Section 7 of the Inquests Act of 1977, the Resident Magistrate has the discretion as to whether to haold an inquest if s/he is not satisfied as to the cause of death.

Death Certificate/Doctor's Certificate: 

The death certificate is issued by the on-duty medial practitioner.  A copy of the death certificate would be available on request.  Identification of the deceased person is required.  Identification could be by a person who has known the deceased for a reasonable length of time, generally supported by official documentation, i.e. a passport and other relavant documentation.

Note: (Health Department comment) The medical officer may not be in a position to issue a death certificate immediately, as it is unlikely that there would be any past medical history available. If this is the case, the health department (NOT hospital administration), probably with the assistance of the police, would need to seek this information from the family of the deceased.
Although Nauru has a Coroners Act, coroner inquiries are rare.

Maximum Period Before Burial:   

There is no period specificed in the Inquests Act of 1977 as to when a body should or could be buried.

Embalming: 

There are no embalming facilities in Nauru.   If embalming were required the materials and experience would need to be brought into the country to conduct the process and prepare the body for transshipment. It is important to note that the body would be required to transit a number of countries en-route to USA or other designated destination and quarantine and other laws would come into effect.