Sion hospital sets up dedicated morgue for COVID-19 deaths

The Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General LTMG Hospital popularly known as Sion Hospital has become the first civicrun teaching hospital in the state to have a dedicated mortuary for patients who die of Coronavirus This has been done to ensure that the Coronavirusaffected bodies do not come in contact with other bodies thereby mitigating the risk of community transmissionBYL Nair hospital has dedicated six cabinets for those killed by COVID19 but at its existing mortuary The step was taken at the direction of civic chief Praveen Pardeshi and executed by the department of forensic medicine and toxicology at LTMG hospitalWe are preparing ourselves for all eventualities During my visit to LTMG and Nair hospitals a few weeks ago it was found that there are many unclaimed bodies lying in the mortuary for months together We disposed of these bodies with the help of police and made special mortuary units to keep bodies of the Coronavirusaffected till the police complete formalities Pardeshi told middayLTMG Hospital has 16 cabinets and Nair has six and these many are sufficient for now We may rope in KEM and Cooper hospitals if the need arises But such a setup is not required in peripheral hospitals Pardeshi addedDr Rajesh Dhere Professor and Head of Department Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at LTMG hospital said We have made a first of its kind separate cold storage with 16 cabinets only to keep bodies of suspected Coronavirus cases The section has an entry and exit separate from the existing mortuary that has 38 racks There is further separation of identified and unidentified bodies so that relatives or claimants of identified bodies do not get distressed going through all the bodiesLTMG hospital in the past few weeks has come across eight to 10 cases where patients were declared brought dead All such cases now are being treated as suspected COVID19 deaths Until police identify relatives record statements and issue No Objection Certificate NOC such bodies will be preserved in the special COVID19 mortuary said Dr DhereOn Sunday a man who had COVID19 symptoms was found dead at Wadala His family said that he had been on the way to the doctors clinic We found he had an underlying heart ailment that led to his death Such bodies cannot be kept in the COVID19 mortuary as it could get infected explained Dr DhereAccording to Dr Dhere Since the lockdown began stopping local trains and limiting vehicular movements the daily two to three accident cases have almost stopped Now we come across suicides and deaths due to existing ailments Accidental deaths have reduced drasticallyThe special COVID19 mortuary is sprayed with disinfectants daily Our staff has been trained to spray the walls with sodium hypochlorite solution As per the directives bodies brought to this mortuary will be kept for a few hours Police have to trace families and dispose of the bodies at the earliest said Dr DhereA forensic surgeon from Nair hospital confirmed that they have preserved six rakes from the existing eighteen rakes to keep bodies of COVID19affected patients as they do not have a separate facility availablemidday reached out to Police Surgeon Dr S M Patil regarding a similar setup at the five post mortem centres in the city Rajawadi hospital Cooper hospital Bhagwati hospital Siddarth hospital and JJ hospital These civicrun medical colleges are the ones where suspected patients are declared dead and then the police are informed Since the home department has issued directives that patients who die of Coronavirus must be cremated or buried immediately the onus is on the police to trace the kin complete all formalities issue NOC and then dispose of the body Post mortem centres have no role here as presumed earlier We are not doing autopsies in cases where the cause of death is already issued and police have accepted the same Dr Patil said16No of cabinets for COVID19 deaths at Sion hospitalCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news