Overflowing Morgues: More Lessons from COVID-19 2021 Disaster Planning for California Hospitals Virtual Conference
Experts from a community hospital and a stand-alone acute care
facility share stories and describe how the continuity of
decedent management is challenged when existing resources are
beyond capacity. Quick planning and coordination with the county
EMD, county coroner’s office, and local overflow mortuaries, and
transportation and storage capacity issues were critical to
staying ahead of reaching critical capacity. At the same time,
facilities had to manage staff suffering from illness and PTSD
due to massive increase of morgue duties. Speakers will
demonstrate how employing solutions assures the community that
the hospital is still a safe place to receive care. Lessons
learned from the presentation will assist health care emergency
management personnel in planning for future decedent surges
within a hospital morgue.
