{"id":11158,"date":"2017-03-18T13:32:57","date_gmt":"2017-03-18T20:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pocketwisdominsights.com\/pwicolab\/?p=11158"},"modified":"2019-02-18T20:59:08","modified_gmt":"2019-02-19T04:59:08","slug":"ohio-drugs-morgues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pocketwisdominsights.com\/pwicolab\/community\/pwi-co-lab-staff\/ohio-drugs-morgues\/","title":{"rendered":"Cold-storage Trailers Being Used as Morgues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opening Insights<\/h2>\n
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Drugs are killing so many people in Ohio that cold-storage trailers are being used as morgues<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Pocket Wisdom Insights (PWI) invites you to explore the following Co-Lab Blog<\/strong>.<\/em>
\n This blog features parts of\u00a0influential and insightful article written outside of the PWI\u00a0Co-Lab<\/strong><\/em>
\n by Kristine Phillips<\/strong>, on March 16, 2017, published by\u00a0The Washington Post<\/strong>.<\/em>
\n We have republished this content in respect of the author\u2019s vision, message and research.<\/em><\/p>\n

Informational Insights<\/h2>\n

By about 3 p.m. Friday, a county morgue in east Ohio was already full \u2014 and more bodies were expected.<\/p>\n

Rick Walters, an investigator for the Stark County coroner's office, had just left for two death scenes: a suicide and an overdose.<\/p>\n

From the road, he called the director of the Ohio Emergency Management Agency to ask for help. He needed more space, he explained \u2014 specifically, a cold-storage trailer to act as an overflow morgue.<\/p>\n

As with much of the United States, Ohio is in the throes of a heroin and opioid epidemic that shows no signs of abating<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Friday afternoon request for a cold-storage trailer highlights the epidemic ravaging the state.<\/p>\n

Drug overdoses have led to a spike in the number of bodies coming to the Stark County morgue \u2014 an increase of about 20 percent in the last year. The additional bodies led to the need for more space, so the coroner's office borrowed a trailer from the state until it gets caught up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI've been involved in public safety for 40 some years; I remember the drug problem we had in the late \u201960s and early \u201970s when I joined the department,\u201d Walters said. \u201cThe fatality numbers are nothing even close to this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, the coroner's office processed about 500 deaths, more than 100 of which were drug-related, Walters said.<\/p>\n

Statewide, the numbers are staggering.<\/p>\n

According to the Ohio Department of Health<\/a>, the number of opioid-related deaths skyrocketed from 296\u00a0in 2003 to 2,590 in 2015 \u2014 a 775 percent jump over a 13-year period. These numbers include deaths involving prescription opioids, heroin and fentanyl<\/a>, which is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent.<\/p>\n

Behind the bleak statistics are haunting scenes of overdose victims.<\/p>\n

Several times in recent months, Ohio has been the setting for such shocking spectacles.<\/p>\n

In September, authorities in the town of East Liverpool<\/a> stopped a car and found a man and a woman barely conscious in the front seats. The woman\u2019s 4-year-old grandson sat in the back seat.<\/p>\n

A disturbing photo of the scene \u2014 the driver with his head tilted back, the woman slumped across the passenger seat, and the boy staring at what\u2019s in front of him \u2014 spread like wildfire.<\/p>\n

Weeks later, in northeast Ohio, a recovering addict delivered<\/a> some devastating news to his 8-year-old son.<\/p>\n

\u201cMommy died last night,\u201d Brenden Clark said. \u201cOkay?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean? My mom?\u201d his son said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow!\u201d the boy cried out.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom drugs,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n

Clark posted video of the heart-wrenching discussion on Facebook, where it has been viewed more than 35 million times.<\/p>\n

In Stark County, where the population had outgrown the morgue, the drug problem has been especially taxing,\u00a0Walters said.<\/p>\n

The morgue can house only 12 bodies at a time. That's small for a county with a population of more than 375,000, Walters said.<\/p>\n

The drug epidemic also has caused the county to spend roughly $75,000 a year in toxicology tests alone, Walters said. In some months, the county racks up $10,000 in toxicology bills.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe're just spending all kinds of money on lab work because there's so many different drugs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Walters said the cold-storage trailer arrived late Friday night in Canton, Ohio, where the coroner's office is located.\u00a0Designed for use at disaster scenes or mass-fatality illnesses, it is loaded with\u00a0trays about 20 inches wide and 7 feet long and can hold 18 bodies...<\/p>\n

Click to Read More...<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Possibilities for Consideration<\/h2>\n

Take a moment and examine\u2026<\/h3>\n