DEAD GET MOVING

Some five decades after its predecessor was destroyed by fire, Jamaica’s state-of-the-art government forensic pathology autopsy suite was reopened on Thursday, aiming to tackle a mounting backlog of more than 300 autopsies. However, while plans are under way to conduct autopsies seven days a week, concerns about adequate staffing persist.

In his keynote address, Dr Horace Chang, deputy prime minister and minister of national security, acknowledged that forensic science may not be the most appealing career choice for many.

He further told The Gleaner in an interview after the ceremony, held at 149 Orange Street in Kingston, that government-trained pathologists often seek opportunities abroad, creating a shortage that extends beyond Jamaica’s borders.

Though he refrained from offering a specific number of government-employed pathologists, Chang stressed that the Government had trained “quite a few” professionals, but many move on after completing their bonds.

“We try to get some Jamaicans trained. We trained some, but they do their term and move again … . We get them trained in Canada among the best. That means they are valued. They give us the five years and get [lucrative] offers overseas, and they’re not gonna turn that down … . They are high value, but we just keep training,” Chang said, adding that it is a widespread challenge across the Commonwealth.

“We’re exploring training partnerships in other jurisdictions where general pathologists are trained and then specialised in forensics … . The goal is to build a pipeline of Jamaicans who stay. That’s the ambition,” Chang said.

There is currently a backlog of more than 300 autopsies, but the new facility is designed to handle up to 150 cases at a time, alleviating the need to spread cases across multiple locations on the island. Operating seven days a week would improve service delivery to the public and reduce the wait time for the scheduling of post-mortems from three to four weeks to approximately two to five days.

The suite’s significant body storage capacity also ensures that Jamaica is in a state of readiness to deal with mass casualty events, such as natural disasters, large-scale accidents, pandemics, or other tragedies.

Chang also noted that while the Government pays private morgues for storage, the conditions at some facilities are less than ideal and those operators might not be happy with the commissioning of this suite.

With more than $100 million spent annually on private morgue services, an end to this practice could result in significant public savings.

“The way they (some morgues) manage [the bodies] is not very humane. You go there, and trust me, even though they might be criminals that are there, it is not [easy] to see any element of humanity in those conditions,” Chang said, stressing that the new facility, located at 149 Orange Street in Kingston, is a welcome improvement.

The opening of the suite will put an end to the practice of performing autopsies in private funeral homes operating in an unregulated industry. This practice presented ptential risks to the integrity of criminal investigations and the administration of justice.

Calvin Lyn, owner of Lyn’s Funeral Home and president of the Jamaica Association of Certified Embalmers and Funeral Directors, was on hand for the reopening.

Lyn, who is one of the contractors who stores remains in Manchester, noted that there are two private facilities where autopsies are done, and various issues trigger delays and frustrate families.

“Within the past two months – and more so within last week to this week – we have had problems with one, whereby the autopsies were schedule for X day but was cancelled because of a water problem. Now, the relatives of those deceased would have made their arrangements already, and that would cause the relatives to change up their plans, postpone whatever is to be postponed … so with this Government-operated facility, ... I expect that the problems that the relatives are facing would be non-existent. I would expect them to have proper electricity service, water. They should have some backup contingency plan,” Lyn said.

He also expressed hope that the Government would be able to address the staffing issue to ensure that autopsies can be conducted regularly.

“With a grieving family, it is not good to say you arrange a [funeral] date for, let’s say, Sunday, June 15, and the autopsy can’t be done today (Thursday), so you will have to make other arrangements. That is disturbing,” Lyn told The Gleaner.

“I’m hoping that the suite will be up to par to provide the services that they are planning to because that has been one of the problems,” he added.

Ground was broken for the project on November 12, 2021, and according to government officials, the works were done on time and within budget. The total investment for the project stands at roughly $680 million.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Andrew Lewis, who attended on behalf of Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake, indicated that the police force plans to integrate the new facility into their homicide-reduction strategy. He expressed hope that the new facility would help the police close cases more quickly.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com