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A summary
of the history and
services of
BAC-Tracker International, Inc.
BAC-Tracker International, Inc. is a consulting
company providing forensic alcohol litigation
services internationally to the criminal justice
community. BAC-Tracker International, Inc. manufactures,
distributes, and supports software, instructs training courses,
oversees its certification program, and provides expert
witness testimony and consultation for civil and
criminal litigators. Headquartered in Atlanta,
Georgia, USA, BAC-Tracker International, Inc. is supported by a
Faculty Advisory Board whose members have years
of experience in forensic alcohol toxicology,
medicine, and law and are responsible for
reviewing and advising the technical aspects and
content of the BAC-Tracker software and
certification exams. BAC-Tracker International,
Inc. is most well
known in the forensic discipline for keeping
pace with the demands of the criminal justice
system through its training
courses, certification program, and software
which facilitates advanced technological
assistance to the forensic toxicology community[1].
- History -
When BAC-Tracker International, Inc. was established in early 2007,
its sole service was manufacturing the only
known commercial software that provided blood
alcohol concentration (BAC) estimations by
employing multiple formulae accounting for the
variation and uncertainties in alcohol
metabolism – absorption, volume distribution (Vd),
and elimination. By late 2007, BAC-Tracker
software had evolved through multiple versions
by expanding its capabilities and features at
the request of its users. By early 2008, BAC-Tracker
International, Inc.
had quickly gained popularity necessitating the
expansion of its services to offer training on
the proper use of BAC-Tracker software and establish a certification program
recognizing proficiency among its users. By mid
2008, BAC-Tracker International, Inc. added yet another service to
its list and began offering various levels of
expert consultation by seasoned forensic
toxicologists. In early 2009, BAC-Tracker
International, Inc. began
offering regularly scheduled training courses and certification
exams. Today, BAC-Tracker International, Inc. has reached
international markets and is leading the way in
working towards meeting the demands imposed by the National
Academy of Science (NAS) calling for the
forensic discipline to account for and report
uncertainty and potential error in theoretical
calculations such as BAC estimations[1][2].
- Faculty Advisory Board -
In early 2009, BAC-Tracker International, Inc. established a Faculty
Advisory Board consisting of well known
individuals having expertise ranging from
forensic toxicology, medicine, and law. The board is charged with
technically advising and oversight of the
features and content incorporated in the BAC-Tracker
software and certification exams.
The 2009-2010 board consists of Patrick Barone,
Founding Member, Barone Defense Firm,
Birmingham, Michigan, USA; Ashraf Mozayani,
Pharm D., Ph.D., D-ABFT, Houston, Texas, USA;
Dr. Edward Ogden, PSM, MA, MBBS, BMedSc, DipCrim,
FRACGP, FAChAM, Forensic Medical Consultants,
Doncaster, Victoria, Australia; and Chip Walls,
Technical Director, Forensic Toxicology
Laboratory, Miller School of Medicine,
University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA.
- BAC-Tracker Software -
BAC-Tracker software is a computer analysis
program that
allows for a more comprehensive estimation of
blood alcohol concentration (BAC) using six
scientific formulae published between 1932 and
2007. BAC-Tracker employs the latest scientific
data for more accurate and balanced results in the
court room when estimating BAC. BAC-Tracker combines professional software
development with the expertise and experience of
seasoned individuals having backgrounds in
forensic toxicology, medicine, and law.
Two separate types of extrapolation reports
(twenty-seven separate reports) can be generated within
seconds by BAC-Tracker
which are derived from a number of different
published
algorithms. Data input requires only the
individual’s gender, age, weight, height, and
either the number of drinks and rate of
consumption during the scenario or a BAC/BrAC
reading at any time in the scenario. The
software will automatically run the data against
six different formulae which take into account
the individual’s gender, age, weight, height,
body mass index, percent body fat, water content
in blood, water content in fat-free body mass,
total body water, multiple non-linear rates of
absorption, and multiple separate rates of
elimination. Further data entry can be
applied to both the rate of absorption to
account for factors affecting gastric
motility and the rate of elimination by applying
broad or narrow ranges to account for inter- and
intra-individual variations in the human
population[3][4][5].
Formulae
The formulae incorporated in BAC-Tracker
software were scientifically derived, peer
reviewed and published beginning in 1932 with
the latest in 2007 by Widmark[6],
Watson et al.[7], Forrest[8],
Seidl et al.[9], Ulrich et al.[10],
and Posey and Mozayani[11].
- Training and
Certification Program -
The BAC-Tracker International, Inc. training
courses and certification program was launched
in early 2008 in response to the rising
popularity and requests for additional training
by its user base at the time. BAC-Tracker
International, Inc. offers customizable training
courses geared towards the various disciplines
involved with alcohol litigation. These
course vary according to the needs of the
organization, but include some focus on forensic extrapolation using BAC Tracker software, one of the latest
software applications for the extrapolation of
alcohol in the courtroom. Upon successful
completion of this course and exercises,
participants will learn and be able to
extrapolate any alcohol related case using every
published Vd formula: Widmark (1932), Watson et
al (1981), Forrest (1986), Seidl et al (2000),
Ulrich et al (1987), and Posey and Mozayani
(2007). Review and oversight
of the certification exam content is provided by
the Faculty Advisory Board.
- Support for BAC Tracker Software -
BAC-Tracker
software has quickly become accepted into the forensic
toxicology community following the 2009 report
issued by the NAS entitled “Strengthening
Forensic Science in the United States: A Path
Forward”. The NAS report identified shortfalls
in the forensic science discipline and listed
the lack of standard reporting and testimony by
many forensic laboratories in the United States
as a major concern. The report states that
“forensic reports, and any courtroom testimony
stemming from them, must include clear
characterizations of the limitations of the
analyses, including measures of uncertainty in
reported results and associated estimated
probabilities where possible”[12].
Following this report, BAC-Tracker software was
welcomed by the criminal justice system as it is
the first known commercial software to attempt
to meet
these demands posed by the NAS report.
- References -
1. Swofford, H.J. (2009) Alcohol
in the 21st Century: New Standards, New
Technology. Forensic Magazine 6(3).
2. Swofford, H.J. (2008) Estimating Blood
Alcohol Levels: Accounting for the Uncertainties
in Alcohol Metabolism Using Computer Software.
Forensic Magazine 2(7).
3. Swofford, H.J. (2008) Estimating Blood
Alcohol Concentration. Forensic Magazine 5(3).
4. K.Uemura, T.Fujimiya, Y.Ohbora, M.Yashuhara,
K.Yoshida. (2005) Individual differences in the
kinetics alcohol absorption and
elimination.Forensic Science , Medicine and
Pathology. 1:24-27.
5. Posey, D. and Swofford, H.J. (2008)
Understanding the Complex Nature and the
Uncertainties Inherent in Alcohol Metabolism
Using Computer Software. DWI Journal: Law and
Science 23(3), 1-8.
6. EMP Widmark, (1932) Die theoretischen
Grundlagen und the praktische Verwendbarkeit der
gerichtlich-medizinnischen Alkoholbestimmung,
Berlin. Urban Schwarzenberg.
7. PE Watson, ID Watson and RD Batt. (1981)
Prediction of blood alcohol concentrations in
human subjects: updating the Windmark equation.
Journal of the Studies on Alcohol.42: 547-556.
8. ARW Forrest. (1986) The estimation of
Windmark’s factor. J.of Forensic Sciences. 26:
249-252.
9. S.Seidl, U.Jenson and A.Alt. (2000) The
calculation of blood ethanol concentrations in
males and females, International Journal of
Legal Medicine. 114: 74-77.
10. L.Ulrich, Y.Cramer, P.Zink. (1987) Relevance
of Individual parameters in the circulation of
blood levels relative to volume intake.
Blutalkohol 24: 192-198.
11. D.Posey and A.Mozayani. (2007) The
Estimation of Blood Alcohol, Widmark Revisited.
Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology. 3:
33-39.
12. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United
States: A Path Forward (2009) (Free Executive
Summary) http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12589.html
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"BAC Tracker software has caused me to change the way in
which I report alcohol use in medico-legal reports" --
Dr. Edward Ogden, Victoria,
Australia.
