Birmingham identifies temporary morgues as swine flu cases rocket

Jun 21 2009 by Christina Savvas, Sunday Mercury

HEALTH chiefs have earmarked Midland sites for temporary morgues as they struggle to cope with the swine flu epidemic.

Several locations across Birmingham have been identified as suitable for makeshift mortuaries to store bodies if the pandemic leads to mass casualties.

Although there has only been one UK fatality through swine flu so far, there are concerns that deaths could increase considerably if Britain suffers a freezing winter.

The West Midlands is the worst hit region in the country with 860 people struck down by the potentially lethal H1N1 virus. A staggering 112 new cases were confirmed last night.

The Health Protection Agency has now been forced to switch its strategy in the region after admitting that it can no longer contain the number of cases.

Alistair Bartholomew, regional health emergency planning adviser for the agency, confirmed that makeshift morgues were identified at an early stage of the outbreak.

The plans were part of preparations for a worldwide pandemic – when the authorities first feared the worst.

He said: “It’s done at an international, national, regional and local level. Temporary morgues could be used for anything which could cause an excess number of deaths.

“This is the case for an influenza pandemic and it’s done on the basis of looking at the worst case scenario.

“It would be a large secure site with the facilities necessary for a temporary mortuary.

“The number of sites depends on the size, whether it is a site capable of holding 100 people or 1,000 people or more.”

During a 200 flu outbreak in the Midlands refrigerated lorries were used to store bodies outside hospitals.

Mr Bartholomew added: “In terms of deaths this is a mild form of flu, not a particularly dangerous strain.

“In most cases which have led to deaths there are underlying health problems and the flu is the final straw.

“It is difficult to make predictions because this virus is particularly sneaky. It is not behaving as we expected – it spread slower than we anticipated.