Frozen pipes at Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office delay autopsies
DALLAS - The arctic blast has shut down the important work of conducting autopsies at the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office.
Frozen water pipes mean autopsies cannot be conducted.
The issues affected two buildings, the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office at the Southwest Institute of Forensic Science, known as SWIFS, and the adjacent Health and Human Services building.
"We don't have water at either of the buildings, unfortunately. Here at SWIFS we don't have heat, we could bring in portable heaters, but without water they can't do autopsies," said Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price.
Water is a critical component during an autopsy. With no water running, autopsies stopped.
"It's stacking it up. The average autopsy an hour or so, gunshots, you know, three hours, four hours, not counting paperwork, and so now you're doing approximately 15 to 25 autopsies a day, so now you're starting to have to stack them," said John Wiley Price.
Autopsies happen around the clock in what is normally a 24-hour-a-day operation.
"They run about 11 autopsy techs per shift," said Price. "They usually can move whatever they've gotten in, but it doesn't take much. One little glitch and everything starts to back up."
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Under normal stresses, part of what happens at the Medical Examiner's Office would shift to the county Health and Human Services building next door, but not now.
"Can't deal with that building either, because there's no water and, of course, basics like facilities, utilization of bathrooms and all. Water is essential," Price explained.
Frozen pipes are creating an essential emergency.
"You've got those that are coming in, and then you've got those that haven't been picked up, in terms of those bodies, and so it's creating a real environmental challenge for us," said Price.
The pipe problem is a big one.
The first issue is how long the pipes will be frozen, then the thaw.
When we come out of the deep freeze will the pipes hold or will there be a break?
If there is a break, that could further add to autopsy delays.