Indignity to Human Corpses

May 11, 2015 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Hopefully, I am not the only one on Mother Earth who on reading of the goings on at the mortuary of the Georgetown Public Hospital was shocked to their internal consciousness enough to warrant the immediate administration of an anti–emetic.
Now in an air of unfeigned disgust, permit me to once again ask the question. “What is going on?” “Who is running the show, or has the show run aground?”A malignant attitude of total disrespect among the living has permeated the entire country, and now has sadly metastasized to include the deceased.
Kaieteur News May 7, detailed the anguish suffered by Roger Smith, who had gone to the overcrowded morgue to claim his deceased child. Grisly details unfold as he related the manner in which the babies were being stored, thrown in like pieces of meat, absence of proper identification or tagging of the corpses, drawer after drawer being pulled out as the searchers tried to establish the sex of the deceased.
Permit me to inwardly squirm as I try to blot out the scenario that has been conjured up in my crazed mind. There is certainly no excuse for such behavior in even the most backward of Third World countries and its occupants. I am calling on the Government of Guyana, whichever one wins the elections on May 11, to forthwith address and immediately rectify this apathetically sickening situation—— indignity to human corpses.
Section 182 a & b of the Criminal Code of Canada reads as follow:
Everyone who
· (a) neglects, without lawful excuse, to perform any duty that is imposed on him by law or that he undertakes with reference to the burial of a dead human body or human remains, or
· (b) improperly or indecently interferes with or offers any indignity to a dead human body or human remains, whether buried or not,is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.
It can therefore be clearly seen by even the profoundly myopic that one can be jailed for the treatment meted out to the living as well as the dead.  Do not for the briefest of moment garner the impression that I am laying the blame solely and exclusively on the mortuary personnel.
They are at the receiving end of the scale, but nevertheless should ensure that the mise en cause (those responsible for preparation prior to transmission) viz: the nurses/ orderlies etc. carry out their duties in a professional manner.
Of prime importance is the correct identification of the dead, to avert any likely mix up causing further stress to grieving loved ones, relatives etc.  In addition they must ensure that bodies are properly attired and garments secured before departure from the place of death to handing over to the mortuary personnel.
There was no mention made of any proof of receipt made between transferring agent and receiving party. Perhaps Guyana needs to take a lesson or make that lessons on how such a process is conducted here in North America.
The receiving agent at the morgue has to sign in the presence of witnesses that he has received a body, identified by the chart and the name tag applied/attached at three different areas on the shroud. Errors made can prove financially costly to hospitals, hence the safeguarding mechanism.
While this entire incident smacks of human anguish, horror and deprecation, it is further compounded by an extremely archaic system. Under no account should a parent/relative/husband/wife/funeral home employee be subjected to the intricacies of corpse preservation and storage.
Why was the parent allowed to see other dead babies while in the quest to retrieve his child? Is there a protocol in place regarding the expected and tolerated storage period for the dead? Are the families aware of same? And have they been made further aware of the sequelae surrounding non-claiming?
Although I am not residentin Guyana, I am not accepting as credible the explanations given by Government Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh and confirmed by Chief Executive Officer Michael Khan. Are the inmates running the asylum?
Are these two Government officials regularly in touch with the departments in the hospital, and familiarized immediately with any impeding or likely crisis? If the answer bore any element of positivity then it is obvious that such a quagmire as has been reported would not have even existed. The facts speak for themselves with no necessity for preponderance of evidence.
I conclude my call for action and remediation with a few apt quotes: In a 1998 letter, Creating a Culture of Life, Cardinal Roger Mahony states, “Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members — the last, the least, the littlest.”
“A society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members and among the most vulnerable are surely the unborn and the dying,” ~Pope John Paul II. “The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.” ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German Lutheran Pastor and theologian.
The people of Guyana can now judge for themselves, as the world has already completed judgement.
Yvonne Sam

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