Wicked Sense Of Humour Of Medical Staff 2

[retrocop]

Pathologists and mortuary assistants were a strange group with a humour known to themselves.
When a famous singer died of an OD his rather massive appendage was stuck on the mortuary wall for several days like an elephants trunk.
The same pathologist used to enjoy the bodies fished out the Thames by Thames Division. They were very bloated and full of gas.
Before his abdominal incisions he would thrust a long hollow needle into the gut to release the gas. The smell was awful so he got his ronson out and created a oil rig fire.

[hereIam]

Oh err, wonder what close family would think of that !

[Ken4155]

That's not a sense of humour. That's total disrespect for the dead.

[LadyCG]

I bet Sqad could tell a few tales.

[Sqad]

https://www.rcpath.org/discover-pathology/news/women-in-medicine-a-celebration.html

Yes respect for the dead is fundamental in Pathology.

My overriding memory of pathology was as a 4th year medical student and we each had to meet the pathologist, in my case Professor Dorothy Russel...see link above.
i met at 1.00pm with prof Russell and under her supervision have the autopsy finished by 4pm at which time the students would assemble in the mortuary and I would give the case history, treatment and the results of the P.M to the students after which i was questioned. I had a brown leather/lead apron which was bloody heavy and by 4.pm I was physically and mentally exhausted.
The hardest days work I have ever done.
To this day i remember the name of the patient and the cause of death and PM findings.

[Theland]

That is criminal and should carry a very very heavy sentence.

[Mamyalynne]

I am somewhat bemused why it was necessary to remove the penis (presuming that is what you meant) from a corpse during a PM. Was that done for jollity?

[Sqad]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Stuart_Russell

A truly great teacher to whom I will be eternally indebted as my teacher in pathology.

[Lie-in King]

Wicked? Yes. Any humour there? No.

[Chinajan]

Where did this information come from?

I call BS.

[teacake44]

Doing such a job I would think one would need a sense of humour, or you stand a good chance of becoming totally depressed every day.

[jackthehat]

There is a world of difference between the 'gallows-humour' necessary for the preservation of sanity in a grim and stressful job......and the disrespect exhibited in the OP.

[hereIam]

^ Yes, I agree, but should it extend to taking a body part off the deceased and placing it on the wall ? I think not.

[hereIam]

That was to teacake.

[pixie374]

Totally agree, Jack... dark banter is fairly standard in those types of jobs, I think, but that is not the same as actual disrespect. The examples in the OP are way past acceptable.

[woofgang]

retro why did you post this and what is your question?

[retrocop]

I must confess my many visits to morgues as a young 20 year old was not the highlight of my career but as they say somebody's got to do it.
You wouldn’t wish to hear how some undertakers behave. I actually made an official complaint to the Governors of St Mary’s Harrow Rd with respect to the treatment shown to an Elderly couple who were at the morgue in order to officially identify their son to me. I was obliged to break his fingers in order to fingerprint him 2 weeks earlier to find out who he was. To this day I cannot understand how parents waited three weeks to report their son missing when he lived with them. :-(

[jackthehat]

Morgues?

In this country they are called Mortuaries.

[bednobs]

i find this utterly disgusting and find it so repugnant i don't understand

[retrocop]

Sorry JTH if you are unable to differentiate but I guess you just want to be your usual obtuse self.

[Cloverjo]

The former boyfriend of my childhood best friend is a local undertaker. I’ve already given strict instructions to my husband not to use him in the case of my untimely death, for obvious reasons bearing in mind the above posts.