Lycoming County coroner receives a temporary refrigerated morgue: 'It's been crazy out there,' he sa

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WILLIAMSPORT – Lycoming County Coroner Charles E. Kiessling Jr. said Thursday that he has obtained a refrigerated trailer for use as a temporary morgue.

“Hopefully we won’t need it,” he said.

It is one of six such units the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) has placed around the state because of deaths related to COVID-19. Each can hold 33 bodies.

Besides the one in Williamsport, there are two in Delaware County and one each in Cambria, Montour and Tioga counties, Ruth A. Miller, PEMA’s director of communications, said Thursday.

“It’s been crazy out there,” he said about the number of deaths with which his office has been dealing. “We’re really getting hammered. We’re going non-stop in the field.”

There were 416 coroner’s cases in 2019 and it is well over 600 this year, he said. Of those 165 to 170 are COVID-19 cases, he said.

“At this time we do not feel it necessary or appropriate for a refrigeration unit to be on hospital property in Williamsport,” said Amber L. Depew, director of public relations for UPMC Susquehanna.

Another reason morgue space has become an issue is a delay in bodies going to funeral homes, Kiessling said.

The primary reasons are families not making prior arrangements or being unable to pay for a funeral, he explained. There have been nearly 10 county-paid creations this year because of the latter, he said.

Link: https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/12/lycoming-county-coroner-receives-a-temporary-refrigerated-morgue-its-been-crazy-out-there-he-says.html