Coroner to get shrink-wrap device
County seeks bids for machine to aid transport of bodies during disasters
From URL: http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20050218/topstories/90356.shtml
Emergency officials plan for everything these days -- even how best to transport dozens or hundreds of bodies in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack.
To make that macabre task easier, the Thurston County Coroner's Office recently won approval to acquire a machine large enough to shrink-wrap human remains in case such an event ever happened locally.
Under the plan, victims who have been autopsied and identified would be zipped individually into body bags, placed on 7-foot-long plywood trays with cardboard lids and then pushed through the shrink-wrap machine.
Wrapped like packages, they would be easier to carry than body bags alone and less disturbing for workers, onlookers and family members, county Coroner Judy Arnold said Thursday.
"It's hard to think of people in those terms," she said.
"But it's a matter of logistics, and we want to do it in the best and the most respectable way for both the deceased and the family."
The Coroner's Office recently began a bidding process to find a company to build the heat-sealing machine.
The machine would be about 10 feet long and 5 feet high and weigh about 1,000 pounds. It's expected to cost about $50,000, plus the tab for additional supplies, such as the high-density plastic wrap and a generator to power the machine.
The project is being paid for with a grant awarded to the state's Homeland Security Region 3, which includes Thurston and four other counties. The machine would be stored in Thurston County.
It's the first plan of its kind in the state, said Rob Harper, spokesman for the state Department of Emergency Management, which administers grants provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
"Basically, that's a new system, and it was just approved this month by this state's committee on homeland security," he said.
The idea developed from reactions to the bloody terrorist takeover of a Russian school in September and December's tsunamis, which killed more than 120,000 people in 11 countries. Photos of the dead lying on the ground or being thrown into pickups prompted a discussion among emergency planners in Region 3 about what they would do in a situation where scores of bodies needed to be moved from the morgue or stored.
They want to avoid contending with a huge amount of limp and hard-to-carry body bags, especially in a situation where many workers could be volunteers not accustomed to handling human remains, Arnold said. The coffin-shaped boxes also could be moved with forklifts if needed, she said.
"It's not as disturbing as seeing lumpy body bags," she said.
Plus, body bags alone are more susceptible to tears and punctures, Arnold said. In a case of bioterrorism, having the extra plastic covering would seal in biohazards such as anthrax, she said.
Officials looked to California, where authorities have used shrink-wrap in emergency situations on human remains. Then, a deputy coroner who once worked in a funeral home suggested that officials use shrink-wrap in conjunction with the plywood trays, which are known as "cremation trays" and are used to take remains to a crematorium, Arnold said.
Officials figured they could build a machine similar to those used to heat-seal protective plastic covering around new boats being prepared for transport by vehicle, she said.
The machine would have a conveyor belt that moves the remains through. Bodies wouldn't be wrapped until they're cleared to be released from the morgue, Arnold said.
The shrink-wrap machine will be part of a trailer that could be wheeled anywhere in the state if necessary, or taken by helicopter. It also could be used by officials in the field, Arnold said.
Bette Shultz, Thurston County's emergency management coordinator, said the machine is something that could have been used in the tsunami aftermath.
"You know, it's neat, but it's kind of creepy," she said. "It's one of those things you spend a lot of money for and hope you never have to use it."
County seeks bids for machine to aid transport of bodies during disasters
From URL: http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20050218/topstories/90356.shtml
Emergency officials plan for everything these days -- even how best to transport dozens or hundreds of bodies in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack.
To make that macabre task easier, the Thurston County Coroner's Office recently won approval to acquire a machine large enough to shrink-wrap human remains in case such an event ever happened locally.
Under the plan, victims who have been autopsied and identified would be zipped individually into body bags, placed on 7-foot-long plywood trays with cardboard lids and then pushed through the shrink-wrap machine.
Wrapped like packages, they would be easier to carry than body bags alone and less disturbing for workers, onlookers and family members, county Coroner Judy Arnold said Thursday.
"It's hard to think of people in those terms," she said.
"But it's a matter of logistics, and we want to do it in the best and the most respectable way for both the deceased and the family."
The Coroner's Office recently began a bidding process to find a company to build the heat-sealing machine.
The machine would be about 10 feet long and 5 feet high and weigh about 1,000 pounds. It's expected to cost about $50,000, plus the tab for additional supplies, such as the high-density plastic wrap and a generator to power the machine.
The project is being paid for with a grant awarded to the state's Homeland Security Region 3, which includes Thurston and four other counties. The machine would be stored in Thurston County.
It's the first plan of its kind in the state, said Rob Harper, spokesman for the state Department of Emergency Management, which administers grants provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
"Basically, that's a new system, and it was just approved this month by this state's committee on homeland security," he said.
The idea developed from reactions to the bloody terrorist takeover of a Russian school in September and December's tsunamis, which killed more than 120,000 people in 11 countries. Photos of the dead lying on the ground or being thrown into pickups prompted a discussion among emergency planners in Region 3 about what they would do in a situation where scores of bodies needed to be moved from the morgue or stored.
They want to avoid contending with a huge amount of limp and hard-to-carry body bags, especially in a situation where many workers could be volunteers not accustomed to handling human remains, Arnold said. The coffin-shaped boxes also could be moved with forklifts if needed, she said.
"It's not as disturbing as seeing lumpy body bags," she said.
Plus, body bags alone are more susceptible to tears and punctures, Arnold said. In a case of bioterrorism, having the extra plastic covering would seal in biohazards such as anthrax, she said.
Officials looked to California, where authorities have used shrink-wrap in emergency situations on human remains. Then, a deputy coroner who once worked in a funeral home suggested that officials use shrink-wrap in conjunction with the plywood trays, which are known as "cremation trays" and are used to take remains to a crematorium, Arnold said.
Officials figured they could build a machine similar to those used to heat-seal protective plastic covering around new boats being prepared for transport by vehicle, she said.
The machine would have a conveyor belt that moves the remains through. Bodies wouldn't be wrapped until they're cleared to be released from the morgue, Arnold said.
The shrink-wrap machine will be part of a trailer that could be wheeled anywhere in the state if necessary, or taken by helicopter. It also could be used by officials in the field, Arnold said.
Bette Shultz, Thurston County's emergency management coordinator, said the machine is something that could have been used in the tsunami aftermath.
"You know, it's neat, but it's kind of creepy," she said. "It's one of those things you spend a lot of money for and hope you never have to use it."
