Morgue?

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medic219

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Ok guys, just for some background, I am currently employed by a private ambulance company who is 911 contracted. I have worked here for nearly two years as an EMT-P. Prior to that I ran with the volunteers as an EMT and medic for a year. I can deal with pretty much all of the sights/sounds/smells of EMS and not really think twice about it. Granted some calls still get to me, particularly those involving children & violent deaths, but the one thing I still have trouble with is taking expired patients to the morgue.

It's not so much the shock value of it that bothers me, but more of an "I'm afraid to touch anything." Can anyone explain why this may be? What are the chances of me actually getting some "strange exotic deceased patient disease with a name longer than my address" just by the contact required of this task?

Sorry if this post seemed too much like a rant! Appreciate the help. ^_^
 
i cant help you there. in ma, we dont drive around with dead people in the rig(spare me the "well a code patient is technically dead". you know what i mean).

that is the job of either the funeral director or the medical examiner.

if we show up on scene and find signs inconsistant with life, calls over. we might wait for the funeral director or ME, but i usually pawn that off on either the jakes or the canarys. once my OLMC doc has pronounced, im on my way asap.
 
KEVD18 said:
i cant help you there. in ma, we dont drive around with dead people in the rig(spare me the "well a code patient is technically dead". you know what i mean).

that is the job of either the funeral director or the medical examiner.

if we show up on scene and find signs inconsistant with life, calls over. we might wait for the funeral director or ME, but i usually pawn that off on either the jakes or the canarys. once my OLMC doc has pronounced, im on my way asap.
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Same here, if we're not actively working it they don't get in the rig.
 
Yes, why are you transporting dead bodies to the morque? Most states wrote a statute prohibiting that back in the early 80s.

The morgue is not my favorite place unless it is in the autopsy part. The storing of bodies makes me a little uneasy at times also even after 30 years. I have no problem with dead bodies one on one or even a room full of freshly dead. I just don't like to see bodies "resting" in cold and dark storage.

In Miami during the late 70s and early 80s, we had so many dead bodies, our county morgue was using refrigerated trucks. Our ambulances were doing body runs back than and that is where I probably acquired my cringe factor for "cold storage".
 
OP, I am curious, what duties do you need to perform with a dead body? Does your company have a contract to transfer them between crime scenes and MEs office? Are they "packaged" when you pick them up? What kind of handling do they require? Do you turn up the AC?
 
Its not uncommon here for private ambulance companies to transport deceased pts to the local mortuary. Generally done during the night or on weekends. One of the favorite tricks was to wait until you hear another rig being toned out for a 'first call' (more like a last call to me, but I guess that has too much of a barroom tone to use on the radio). You would beat them to the facility, hide the rig, use the touch pad to go inside and hide. Never failed to get a reaction.. all you had to do was touch them on the shoulder or say hello.
 
First I would like to thank you all for answering!

Every call involving a deceased patient is investigated by a medical examiner on scene. For patients that are given a preliminary cause of death other than homicide we will typically transport per the ME to the morgue in one of our local hospitals. Cases that are ruled undetermined or homicide are always taken by the ME to the state medical examiner's office. For those patients w/o suspicous cause of death, the ME gives us a paper describing transport location and signs custody of the body to us for transport.

Suprisingly it's not really the "ick factor" of seeing bodies on trays in an oversized freezer. The morgue at the particular hospital I'm talking about is pretty well lit (when the lights are on). Security always has to come and unlock it for us so there are at least you, your partner and the security guard. For some reason I'm just scared to touch anything in there. It's so weird.

EMT, we have a contract with the ME of our county to transport all bodies to the hospital morgue. We are, by state law, prohibited from transporting those with a suspicious or undetermined cause of death. Typically we'll arrive on scene with FD and conact medical control for a time of death (if it's an obvious DOA). ME will be dispatched to the scene who will determine preliminary cause of death and typically transfer the custody of said body to us who will in turn transport to the designated hospital. We typically package them in a canvas salvage bag and load them on the cot and strap it on with the seat belts. We then put a white sheet over top of that out of respect for the family. For some reason the sheet doesn't upset them as much as the body bag. Other than that no special handling. Only difference is that no one rides in the back with them. We take them in through the loading dock and then to the morgue which is thankfully located in the first door to the right. At least you aren't tasked with pushing them very far.

I would like to clarify that we verify these people are dead by ensuring they are pulseless/apneic & asystole on all four leads. If they are still viable we always work the arrest. You aren't dead until you're cold and dead!
 
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medic219 said:
You aren't dead until you're cold and dead!
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i hope that was a joke...


anyway, i suppose if its legal in your area to be transporting corpses then i guess theres nothing anybody can tell you in that regard.
 
My volunteer service does transport dead bodies. Here in Fort Smith our coroner service does not transport bodies and we don't have a funeral home. I have no problem taking a body to the morgue. I also have no problem puttingtheminbody bags. The only time i would probably have problems is if it was involving small children or infants.
 
that sucks, im glad around here we have coroners to do that, plus here they wouldnt want us to tie up rigs transporting bodies if there are people still alive that we can help
 
medic219 said:
You aren't dead until you're cold and dead!
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Hmm in Wilderness Med, you aren't dead until you are warm and dead. We pulled a guy out of the woods with a core body temp of 86. Gotta warm them up first and see if they stay dead. Otherwise they are just 'mostly dead' different from 'all dead'
 
We don't transport dead people. Police have to stay on scene until the ME releases the body to a removal service or funeral home. For the few people who actually die in the ambulance. They are usually transported to the nearest hosp. so the ambulance can be put back in service.
 
Our local service doesnt transport the deceased either. But interestingly enough, my first ride-along in class we were called to riverfront because cops had discovered body of young guy who had jumped off a bridge several days earlier. My preceptor actually called the morgue. We were all standing around, with about 10 firefighters and 30 or 40 sheriffs and city cops. When it came time to get the body out of the water (he was in rough shape/crabs and fish had gotten him/he had quite an odor), the cops just looked around. So finally, my self, a buddy on the local fire dept, and another cop floated him on a stokes, lifted him onto the dock, and rotated him into a body bag. I have done recovery diving before, so the dead dont really bother me. Mostly its the living that scare the hell outta me!
 
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