Coroner's team ready for disaster
By M.S. Enkoji
Sacramento Bee
December 5, 2006
It might be small comfort to some, but if there is a massive disaster just about anywhere in Northern California, the Sacramento County Coroner's Office is ready to roll.
With the help of $200,000 in federal Department of Homeland Security grant money, the Coroner's Office has assembled equipment and technology to handle 1,500 bodies for up to 72 hours before outside help arrives.
"Let's hope we never have to use it," said Sacramento County Coroner Robert Lyons.
For emergency services, California is divided into seven regions, each with a major metropolitan county that can provide aid throughout the region. Sacramento County could be called in on wide-scale disasters in an 11-county region, from Nevada County to Stanislaus County and from Yolo to Alpine County.
Recent disasters with mass casualties, such as Hurricane Katrina and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have underscored the challenges for coroners in handling and identifying victims, said Greg Wyatt, a Sacramento County assistant coroner.
In a large disaster, Homeland Security dispatches a team of personnel and equipment. Sacramento County now can operate for three days, waiting for that federal help, Wyatt said.
The equipment and supplies include newer technology that reflects new fears, such as high-tech body bags that can be heat-sealed to retain toxic vapors.
California, unlike smaller states, experiences a variety of disasters, which puts the emergency response services on the cutting edge, Wyatt said.
"I really feel if we have a Katrina-type disaster in this state, the response would have been different," he said.