The place of final registration of citizens (or the mortuary) is associated with disfigured bodies and the pungent smell of naphthalene and chlorine. Such a spectacle can rightfully be called one of the most terrifying and unpleasant. Is it possible to meet a person who wants to be in the morgue of his own free will? Probably not. However, someone must work in such an institution. This means that there are brave daredevils in the world who have dedicated their lives to "communication" with soulless bodies.
In the article we will get acquainted with the history of the morgue and its employees, and also learn about what happens behind the walls of a gloomy institution called "the place of final registration of citizens".
Paris morgue. Paris Morgue
Until the 19th century, extraordinary fun was popular among the inhabitants of Paris: looking at corpses. The unprecedented entertainment was made possible thanks to a building called morgue, where the authorities displayed lifeless bodies attached to marble slabs.
The original purpose of the French morgue was to identify corpses by local residents, because most of the "exhibits" are suicides, which were often found in the Seine. But lovers of bread and circuses did not react to such an innovation as the authorities would like: the Parisians looked at the corpses as some kind of forbidden work of art.
In 1706, Russia partially took advantage of the French experience, however, such institutions were not called the place of final registration of citizens at all, but anatomical theaters, which only novice and practicing doctors could get into. The first mortuaries in the modern sense appeared about a hundred years ago.
Dictionary interpretation
Many mistakenly believe that the morgue is an abbreviation for "the place of final registration of citizens." This assumption is absolutely wrong. The morgue is a neologism from the French language, and the place of final registration of citizens is a popular attempt to decipher the word. To verify this, we turn to the modern explanatory dictionary for help. It says that the morgue is not a "place" at all, but a special institution for the storage, identification and autopsy of corpses.
Specialists with nerves of steel
Why do young medical students choose to work in the morgue? After all, the daily contemplation of corpses mixed with an unpleasant smell can drive even the most seasoned and mentally stable person crazy. Both beginners and experienced morgue employees answer this question in different ways. Someattracts high wages, while others treat the human corpse as an ordinary biological material, because they treat such work calmly and calmly.
Below is a list of specialists who work with corpses every day and know firsthand what a mortuary is:
- Pathologist. Engaged in autopsy and analysis of biological material, clarifies the cause of death.
- Forensic expert. Sets the cause of death to be criminal.
- Nurseman. Cleans the premises, "looks after" the corpses.
- Medical registrar. Keeps records of the arrival of corpses.
- Make-up artist. With the help of makeup, gives the face of the deceased a neat and "fresh" look.
What is a morgue from the inside, or How do doctors work?
As soon as a corpse enters the mortuary, it is sent to a personal freezer, and when it comes to autopsy, to a dissecting table with an adjacent sink. First of all, the pathologist studies the medical history of the deceased and examines the skin.
Then the doctor proceeds to examine the body from the inside: he opens the stomach and breaks the chest with special tools. The pathologist takes out the internal organs for a thorough examination and analysis. After the procedure, the doctor puts the organs back into the abdominal cavity.
If the cause of death is not found, the pathologist opens the skull of the deceased. In a special way, the scalp is removed and the cranial bone is sawn. Doctorgets not only the brains, but also the eye sockets. Each organ is subjected to detailed inspection and study.
If the doctor has established the cause of death and / or took the necessary biological material for analysis, then the abdominal cavity of the deceased is sutured, and the skull is mended. Corpsmen wash and embalm the body.
Death makeup
The pathologist does not leave an untouched place on the body of the deceased, so such consequences must be carefully masked. Make-up artists and orderlies put the finishing touches: the first give a natural shade to the face and do the hair, and the second change the deceased into new clothes and put them in the coffin.
Terrifying facts
Despite the hardened nature of doctors and nurses, there are moments in the morgue that will make even the most experienced specialist shudder.
For example, orderlies get used to the process of sewing up the body for a very long time. When the needle passes through the skin with a thin layer of fat, a characteristic creak is heard, similar to the sound from a horror movie.
Also in medical practice, there is a common case when the deceased literally begins to "breathe": at one moment, excess air suddenly comes out of the lungs of the corpse. Experienced doctors are used to such a sight, but newcomers have a hard time.
On the feelings of specialists
Surely everyone is interested to know what emotions and experiences the mortuary workers experience. Surprisingly, most of them arelife-loving people with inner harmony. The life philosophy of pathologists is not based on the concept of "we will all be there", but is intertwined with the thought "how great it is to live."