State GMCs to have Goa-pattern state-of-the art mortuaries

  This is the auditorium where autopsy is conducted which can be watched by students or teachers

By Vikas Vaidya

Can one imagine mortuaries with big auditorium and state of the art arrangement in Government Medical Colleges? Yes is the answer to this question. Soon Government Medical Colleges, District Hospitals to have mortuaries matching to the five star hotel. Goa Medical College has such kind of mortuary. Taking leaf out of Goa medical college’s book Maharashtra will be developing such mortuaries.
The issue was raised by Nagpur’s MLC Girish Vyas in State Legislative Council on Thursday. To this querry, Chairman of Council assured House that Goa pattern would be followed to establish state of the art mortuaries in State’s Medical Colleges.
In a case Sahyog Trust vs Maharashtra Government, the division bench of Justice Bhushan Gavai and Mrudula Bhatkar at Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court had passed an order asking Government to visit mortuary at Goa Medical College develop mortuaries in Maharashtra on the same line. Accordingly a committee under the Chairmanship of Dr Manish Shrigiriwar, now OSD at Super Speciality Hospital, Nagpur was constituted with Dr P G Dixit, GMCH, Nagpur and Dr Shailesh Mohite of Nair Hospital as other members. The committee visited Goa Medical College and prepared its report with recommendations to High Court. High Court had asked committee chairman to take opinion of Principal Secretaries of Departments of Medical Education and Public Health. Accordingly the committee had sent the report to the Secretaries for their opinions. After that Government sat on the report without doing anything.
Such mortuaries should be developed at Primary Health Centres, Rural Hospitals too along with GMCHs. There will be big auditorium where at least 50 people can sit at a time. This is for the projects to be conducted for PG students and even for teachers. Right now there is no place for the relatives who have to wait outside if the autopsy is being conducted. So committee has recommended mourner’s hall with attached toilet facility, separate inquest room, a room for decomposed body.
If the mass disaster has taken place then even big cities do not have facility to keep bodies. Nagpurians have observed in 1994 when Gowari stampede has taken place. Considering this factor, Committee had recommended for a cold storage where 50 bodies can be kept. This facility will be combined one for four districts.
During autopsy the walls of the rooms become dirty due to blood stains and all. These walls cannot be cleaned. Instead the recommendation says that walls should have cover of stainless steel so that the same can be cleaned easily.
The staff for doing forensic work is less, considering this aspect, now Medical Officers will be given 15-day compulsory training where they would be taught how to do medico legal work.