AIIMS soon to have stink-free mortuary

New Delhi: The stinky mortuary at AIIMS will soon be a thing of the past as the premier medical institute is going to have an odourless, modern autopsy facility, a first-of-its-kind in the country, to help experts conduct post-mortems with ease. Tenders inviting interested firms have already been issued in this regard. The proposed facility would come up within the existing autopsy centre, head of the AIIMS forensic department, Sudhir Gupta, said on Sunday.

“Generally, the mortuary where autopsies are conducted have repellent smells because of which the ambience becomes unpleasant. Also, doctors and staff conducting post-mortems are unable to concentrate on the higher technical findings of the body as autopsies are being performed in haste. “Besides, it is an unpleasant experience for relatives of the deceased as well as police investigators who have to remain present nearby,” Dr Gupta said.

“All that is required to be drained out in toto. In the newly constructed autopsy centre, all these fluids and other biological materials will get evacuated and cleaned by vacuum technique. At AIIMS, we are still using manual methods of cleaning and then throwing them in traditionally,” he said. The centre will have in-built facilities for videographing a post-mortem procedure

He said the autopsy table will be wall-mounted like an operation table so that the height can be adjusted. Also, the centre will have in-built facilities for videographing a postmortem procedure.