In Pune, the dead have strict 'deadlines'

Pune: It's official. The dead in the city have a deadline too. If this sounds bizarre, then here's the proof. A notice at the Sassoon hospital morgue, states that autopsies would not be conducted on corpses brought in after 10 pm and would have to wait till morning. Sassoon hospital happens to be the only centre in the entire city and the adjoining areas where post mortems are conducted. After refusing to accept dead bodies for organ donation unless they came between normal daytime working hours, now a deadline has been enforced for post mortem examinations too.

Short staffed

The reason for this notice is because the hospital is facing a shortage of staff, and hence cannot handle autopsies after office hours. Barely a week ago, MiD DAY had done a story on the plight of a family that was made to run from pillar to post as their relative died at midnight but had willed his body for donation to a medical college. No city hospital was ready to accept his body as the anatomy department in all hospitals had shut down and bodies were accepted only during normal working hours.

S B Punpale, head of the forensic medicine department, said, "It had become necessary to stop work at night as there was too much pressure on the lean team of doctors. Three resident doctors have left because they had exams. With just three senior and two junior doctors, how do we handle the load? We conduct about 30 post mortems a day, which is the highest load in the entire state." He later said that this was just a stopgap arrangement. "In case of emergencies, a doctor will be requested to be available to conduct post mortems. But we can't do for all cases," he said.

An official on request of anonymity said, "What can the families of the deceased do? Most bodies come from the villages and invariably during the night hours. There is no room within the premises. Usually, more than 10 members accompany one body and they have no place to stay." A police official on duty at the hospital mentioned that it was a very awkward situation. "A number of accident and suicide cases come during the night. We have to explain to family members that they have to leave and come back in the morning," the officer said. According to a technician working in the morgue, the workload is extreme as there are only two doctors handling over 30 patients. It is not possible for them to work for 24 hours and hence the decision was taken to work only for a specific number of hours.