Everyone associates the word "morgue" with the word "death". Without need, not every person dares to just visit this terrible and mystical place. But there are people who are faced with these words and this room every day. They do not believe in God, nor in otherworldly forces, nor in devilry, nor in resurrection, nor in positive or negative vibrations, otherwise they would not be able to be with dead bodies most of their time.
The morgue is a special office at polyclinics and various organizations of forensic medical examination for holding, recognizing, opening and delivering the dead for their subsequent burial, in other words, the last refuge of a person before leaving for the universe. The word "morgue" came to the Russian language from the French language. The word morgue denotes the area where the dead were brought for their further recognition.
Types of morgues
In Russia now there are two main types of morgues: forensic and pathological anatomical. In the first, most of the corpses are sent, All criminals who died an unexplained death, who were found on the street, from road accidents, and drowned are taken here. The police need an expert opinion in order to either close the case (and it opens automatically upon the fact of a criminal death or from unexplained reasons), or to attach the act to the case and investigate the crime.
Pathological and anatomical are located in hospitals. There are “clean” ones, often elderly or only those who are going to be investigated from a scientific point of view, for whom the law enforcement agencies have no questions.
In large cities, there are up to 10 morgues. They differ not only by region, but also by specifics. In some places, specialized morgues are opening for rotten corpses, foreigners, children, for gunshot and explosive wounds.
Who works in the morgue
There are different specialties in the morgue. Outwardly, the morgue workers are exactly the same as ordinary people. As a rule, people who get a job in a morgue work for a significantly long time, their work is not for the faint of heart. This requires a distinctive character.
Forensic scientist
The expert is looking for the remains and remains of diseases, violence, traces of toxic substances, that is, he is engaged in expert work. He deals with victims who have died violently, sustained injuries associated with criminal activities. The picture of death is collected by the forensic expert bit by bit: a hair, a hematoma, a nail and others. Most of the crimes are solved thanks to the findings of this specialist.
Pathologist
Some people are wrong to think that the pathologist and the medical examiner are the same specialty. These two professions are similar, but still differ. The pathologist is engaged in scientific work: examination of the body, histological analysis. Examines how the disease affected the body, and what exactly led to death. The pathologist must talk a lot, explain, prove to the relatives of the deceased. Another misconception is when people think of pathologists as doctors who dissect corpses. In fact, this doctor is dealing with "peaceful" patients who have died a natural death, or conducting research on "faceless" biopsy material. Doctors and the management of medical organizations are interested in the work of this doctor.
Make-up artist
In a few morgues, now special make-up artists prepare the dead for burial. There are various cases: for example, to make up so that his appearance does not shock relatives or a person does not have a part of his face after some incident - the make-up artist sculpts a plaster model and draws a face on it. They can sew on severed limbs.
Orderly
It is the orderlies who do the dirty work. In large cities, only people with special medical education are accepted for work, even as orderlies.
The purpose of the orderly is to accept only those dead bodies that belong to his morgue, not to mess up the documents, otherwise litigation is possible. If the deceased has clothes, the orderly enters into a special journal and puts the clothes in a bag. But often, all things are filmed at home. On the body with a marker (brilliant green or iodine), he writes the name and time, since the tag is unreliable, it can come off. Accompanying documents - on tape and put the corpse in a corner.
If the body is accepted at night, then the autopsy is not performed until the experts arrive in the morning. So, several corpses can be collected during the night. Morning work of the orderly: undress, cutting clothes, put on the table, open the skull. The abdominal cavity is supposed to be opened by the doctor. Opening tools are the most common, without automation and electric drive. All actions, so to speak, are done manually.
While the doctor is working with giblets, and the laboratory assistant diligently writes down everything under dictation, what the expert says - the orderly is sawing the skull. At the doctor, most of the work is done with microscopes, various devices, scanners, analyzers. When the expert finishes, the orderly must put everything inside. Sew up and wash. The brain is not put back in the head. It, cut into rags, fits into the abdominal cavity, and old clothes are put into the skull so that it does not leak. Further, if necessary, embalming is performed. In parallel with this process, the second orderly with relatives negotiates services, picks up clothes for tomorrow's delivery, gives out ready-made deceased for burial. The bodies from the table are sent to the refrigerator.
If one of the corpses begins to leak or deteriorate more than it should, he urgently contacts his relatives and finds out what they are planning to do. Do you need a balm? Or at least a mask (alcohol + formalin). When the autopsies were finished by lunchtime, the experts went to the offices to write the acts, the second phase begins. The corpses are being prepared for tomorrow. Taking the clothes, the orderly takes them to the refrigerator and puts a package with its latest decoration on each body. Also, at the meeting, he discusses all the wishes with the customer. He will find out what the funeral will be like, when, in order to know if something else needs to be offered or not. Writes a list of services, announces prices. When the approval is completed, it sends the customer to the cashier. A stamped price list hangs near the cash register. When clothes are taken, it is imperative to check what they brought. Here is the essential set for men: underpants, socks, shirt, suit, slippers or shoes. Optionally, there can be a tie, a scarf in your pocket. For women: panties, stockings, a dress, a jacket, a suit with a blouse (neckline is unacceptable, since there will be a sectional seam to the collarbone), slippers or shoes.
Corpse transportation service
Much worse for those who work in the transport of corpses. Corpse transportation is a simple UAZ car with a flashing light, a refrigeration unit inside (a thermos), sheathed with plastic, like the wagons of Russian railways. Refers to the department of the Ambulance Station. The driver and the worker of corpse transportation carry the dead bodies themselves; in especially difficult cases, it is possible to involve rescuers. The dead bodies of infected patients are transported in the same way as the rest. Each treatment machine has a stock of disinfectants. If a deceased person suspicious of a particularly dangerous infection is identified, a team is sent with protective clothing (anti-plague suit), after transportation, additional security measures are taken, up to quarantine in relation to the team members. In general, the problem of "getting infected" is always there - nothing can be done about it. Sometimes they need to go to such dwellings, which becomes creepy: huge cockroaches, beetles, hungry pets next to the dead. If the corpse has lain in the apartment for three or four days, then the beloved dog or cat is in a hurry to chew on the dead owner. The tasty parts of the body are eaten first: eyes, tongue and stomach. Or you have to pull the human body out of the bathroom, which in 3 days has absorbed all the water from the container and weighs five hundred kilograms.
