AIIMS’s state of the art mortuary awaiting equipment, govt nod

Nagpur: The AIIMS-Nagpur forensic department is set to get a state-of-the-art mortuary once it gets equipment from the Union health ministry and approval from the state government. As of now, the central institute has been sending bodies to GMCH forensic department for post mortem.

Currently, bodies of non-medico legal cases (MLCs) are directly handed over to relatives while MLC cases are sent to GMCH.

AIIMS Nagpur has a cold storage where non-MLC bodies are preserved in case relatives are not available. In MLC cases, the relatives too are inconvenienced, as they too have to travel to GMCH from AIIMS Nagpur on the outskirts. At GMCH, officials said sometimes the relatives become restless and create ruckus.

AIIMS has already built a 15,000 sq ft complex to house a state of the art mortuary. It will have a 90 bodies storage capacity, freezers for 12 corpses, X-Ray and CT scan rooms and AC halls for relatives to wait. “We are setting up two cold rooms to store the bodies. The waiting halls will have a helpdesk where relatives shall be given updates about the deceased’s post mortem,” said medical superintendent Dr Manish Shrigirwar.

Dr Shrigirwar added that a new concept has also been implemented at the mortuary. “For an infectious body like Covid or if it is highly decomposed, we have proposed negative pressure mortuary in the same complex. At the rear end of the facility, autopsy auditorium will be a special feature. It will have demonstration of post mortem for training purposes on unclaimed bodies for medical students, new medical officers, judicial officers or public prosecutors,” he said.

This is said to be the first of its kind in the state. “We shall take it to virtual autopsy in next phase,” he said.

The authorities are also planning to get approval of National Human Rights Commission. The home department awards special permission to deal with human rights cases like custodial deaths.

Dr Shrigirwar said the facility would take a month to become functional. “Equipment has been ordered and state government inspection is pending. As soon as these are received we shall start the mortuary,” he said.

Dr Vibha Dutta, director of AIIMS Nagpur, too said the mortuary shall soon start. “Some formalities are pending. We are following up to expedite the process,” she said.