Alberta's Pandemic Influenza Operations Plan.
With all the current vaccination strategy complaining going around, what people probably won't fully appreciate is the creepy "Annex B - Caring for the Dead" on page 31:
The combined total capacity of all hospitals, throughout Alberta, for refrigerated storage is estimated to be less than 150 bodies, and many smaller rural hospitals have no refrigerated body storage space. Although the Medical Examiner’s Office has refrigerated space in its two regional offices for temporary storage of Medical Examiner cases (a maximum of 25 bodies each), the Office also relies upon rural hospitals as sites of temporary body storage for its rural cases. It is clear, therefore, that there will be a shortage of refrigerated body storage sites province-wide, however the acuity of the shortage will vary from location to location and in accordance with the stage of evolution of the pandemic. Apart from hospital morgues, there are three potential sources of additional refrigeration sites for bodies: commercial refrigerated units; local industries/government offices with refrigerators (e.g., Fish and Wildlife Offices); and local ice arenas (e.g. hockey and curling rinks). The most practical of these alternatives is the temporary rental of refrigerated units, as these can be placed at a hospital where there are already procedures in place for the admission and release of bodies. Based upon the projected number of deaths, it is unlikely that the majority of the rural health regions would need more than one of these units for the temporary storage of bodies. Without shelves, these units can hold approximately 25-30 bodies each. The construction of temporary wooden shelves, of sufficient strength to hold bodies, will increase the storage capacity, however the shelves must be constructed in a way that allows for safe movement and removal of bodies (i.e., storage of bodies on shelves above waist height is not recommended for safety reasons). Care must be taken to avoid using a marked commercial unit that may create a negative image for the company providing the unit. The Medical Examiner’s Offices in Edmonton or Calgary should be contacted for information on those companies that have these units available. Admission and release procedures, as well as provisions for security of the units, will have to be planned for and enforced. The next best option would be to use a Government of Alberta local office with cold storage. (E.g. Fish and Wildlife Offices, Gaming and Liquor locations) Local industry refrigerators and local ice arenas are not recommended, primarily becase their locations are fixed and the post-pandemic implications of the fact that human bodies were stored in these sites can be serious. They should only be considered as a last resort, although use of this type of facility may be necessary in the larger population centres of Alberta
"Care must be taken to avoid using a marked commercial unit that
may create a negative image for the company providing the unit."
may create a negative image for the company providing the unit."
Is this really the big thing we need to be worried about in the event of a pandemic outbreak? Sure the hockey rink has been used to store dead bodies, but I'll happily go there tomorrow. Ace Refridgeration Services? Holy hell, no way I'm ever doing business with those people again. For all we know they could be zombies!
Rather than go off on a zombie tangent, I will note that if you store dead people at curling rinks the average age is unlikely to increase.
