Forensic Office The quietest office with the last line of defense of treatment. Stories that few people have the chance to see with the last right of life treatment. Work procedures in the forensic office of Thammasat University Hospital.
In the previous episode, the admin took everyone to see the path to becoming a doctor in the character “Thammasat Doctor, People’s Doctor”. Everyone must have seen that deciding to study medicine is not easy. Studying medicine is not easy. Moreover, becoming a doctor is not easy at all. Moreover, the word “doctor” can branch out into many different paths. Today, the admin will take everyone to see one of the branches that has been extended from the word “doctor”.
Doctors in this branch are a bit far from other types of medicine. Doctors have a duty to save lives, to extend the life of sick people so that they can continue to live strong lives, right? But doctors in this branch work to protect the rights of patients, to pass on the last message that patients want to say before they leave forever. Today, I will take everyone to get to know the Forensic Medicine Office, with Dr. Totsanai Pipatchotitham, a forensic doctor at the Forensic Medicine Office, Thammasat University Hospital, as our guide today.
“We are not reviving him. We are protecting his rights.”
Legal forensic work is a doctor who works with the police in performing autopsies. For deaths that are called “unnatural deaths” or “unexplained deaths”, the law will first consider this case as suspicious. It is necessary to investigate what happened. The examination in these cases may result from an illness or injury, but it is not yet possible to predict or conclude with certainty. Therefore, it is the duty of the forensic doctor to work and find a definite answer.
Role when COVID-19 arrives
When the COVID-19 outbreak occurred, forensics came to help with the management of infected bodies. When the police followed to the scene of the incident for an autopsy, they would go to the scene, look at the scene, and review the information provided by the police. If there was a suspicion of infection in the body, we would wear PPE suits to collect samples of the body and properly handle the infected body before transporting it to the hospital. If the examination results came back positive, indicating infection, a CT scan of the body would be done to screen. Although it was not as complete as an autopsy, it would provide enough information to diagnose the cause of death. However, if the test results for infection in the body came back negative, an autopsy would be required as usual.
“It can be said that the body is wrapped every day.”
Fatigue is normal for employees. These days, fatigue has increased in line with the number of deaths. There are only 13 officers at the forensic office. Some days, 3 or 4 bodies have to be wrapped, and each body takes an hour. If the body is infected, two layers of body bags have to be put over it. The wrapping of the body has to be done with great care and cleaning to prevent germs from contaminating the body bags. This work is very tiring. Whenever there is a break, we quickly let them rest. These 13 people have to take turns working well.
“Working with inanimate people”
The team has people who graduated from law and accounting, not all graduated from medical school. When we first start working, everyone is naturally afraid. We will talk about why we have to do this, how our actions will benefit us. It may seem like we are not treating people, but we are protecting the rights of the dead. Our assessment is like protecting the rights of patients and the bodies of the dead. When the personnel understand the nature of the work and its purpose, they are not afraid, they understand, and they are determined to work.
“Forensics is dealing with corpses and bodies. Work related to crime scenes is forensic science.”
The Institute of Forensic Medicine and Thammasat University have shared refrigerators. When we have finished storing things, we will work together in the main hall. However, the Forensic Medicine Office has a separate room. It is a room for autopsies. There is a bed used for autopsies. It is a bed that sucks air down to absorb the smell. For evidence or objects left at the scene, they will be stored in a blue cabinet, such as clothing, rope, etc. In addition, if there are stab wounds or bullet holes, they will be stored to dry first in a cabinet with air filters.
“It’s not just the bodies of people infected with COVID-19.”
During the severe COVID-19 outbreak, there has been a lot of talk about the lack of space for storing bodies because the number of deaths has skyrocketed beyond control and the number of infected people has shown no sign of decreasing. Although the main duty of forensics in this situation is to help manage infected bodies, forensics still has its main regular work, which is to take care of and manage the bodies in the hospital, both bodies that died in the hospital waiting for relatives to pick them up and bodies that died outside the scene of the incident.
“There is not enough space to store the bodies.”
When July came, it became a crisis, with the number of infected bodies, inpatients, and bodies that died outside almost doubling. The forensic office calculated that we definitely could not store all the bodies. Normally, a body will stay in the freezer for about 1 day. But in the case of COVID-19, when someone is infected and dies, the entire family has to be quarantined and cannot come to collect the body. The time spent in the freezer increases according to the number of days the relatives are quarantined. Therefore, the office has to ask for support from the management to increase the number of freezers to accommodate the increasing number of deaths.
“It’s a job that few people want to do.”
This work is the last line of work that doctors can help provide services to relatives. When someone passes away, it will become a peaceful passing as they wish. Even though the doctors cannot revive the person, they can still preserve their rights to say something last. Even though COVID-19 has come in, others are starting to fear the spread of the virus, but the forensic office still does everything correctly and willingly. Coordinating with the temple to cremate, collect the bones, and wait in case relatives come to receive them in the next two months. “If you are ready, you can come to receive them to make merit. If you are not ready, we will do it.”
Conclusion
The forensic office is the final frontier in a long journey of treatment. Doctors have a wide range of duties and expertise, and the expertise of forensic doctors is a unique and distinctive form of treatment.
Doctors don’t just have to save lives or bring patients back to health. Forensic doctors are the ones who help them die in the most peaceful way possible. Please speak on their behalf about the last information that can be delivered to the justice process.
“We are doctors who protect the rights of the dead.”
The quietest office | Thammasat University Hospitalยรติ
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