‘For postmortems at night, need more manpower’

New Delhi: Extra manpower, reliable source of illumination, and alternative power supply on standby will be some of the challenges if postmortems are to be conducted after sunset, medical and forensic experts said.

Postmortems can now be conducted at Delhi government-run medical facilities even after sunset, the city government had said on Tuesday, describing its decision as a “landmark reform”.

This will not only change the situation for relatives of the deceased who often have to wait a long time to receive the bodies but will “also encourage organ donation and transplantation”, it had said in a statement.

Though the move will ease process of organ donation in medico-legal cases (MLCs) such as accidents, several medical and forensic experts said that doing autopsies at night will have its own share of challenges.

“Yes, doing postmortems at night will surely expedite the overall process and the family can get the body of their kin back sooner, so it will help,” Dr Suneela Garg, former head of community medicine at the Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC), said. The MAMC is attached with the Delhi government's largest hospital, LNJP Hospital. A mortuary is located in the premises of the MAMC.

However, many experts said conducting autopsies at night would entail greater manpower, which will include doctors, postmortem technicians and attendants, sweepers, security personnel, besides reliable source of illumination.

All the mortuaries which are conducting legal autopsies are only equipped with manpower and facilities for daytime autopsy, Dr Sudhir Gupta, AIIMS Delhi's forensic chief, said.

“If one wants to run the mortuary for conducting autopsy 24x7, double manpower will be needed. These include sanitation staff and technicians,” he said. (PTI)