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 2000 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.

“But we expect over the next month to see the number of people affected increase significantly.”

A Birmingham City Council spokesperson said: “We have temporary mortuary arrangements in place if required. These plans have been tested and are fit for purpose – and are looked at nationally as good practice.

‘‘We have multi-agency planning arrangements that will enable us to respond to any flu pandemic in Birmingham, and there are similar plans in place that cover the wider West Midlands conurbation too.’’

Last week, it emerged that patients in the West Midlands are no longer being given routine swab tests to test for swine flu.

If they have symptoms and have been in contact with a confirmed case, officials will diagnose them with the disease and offer anti-virus drugs.

The World Health Organisation has said the outbreak is at level six – the highest threat – and said the global figure had increased by more than 10 per cent in two days to 44,287.

So far swine flu has resulted in 180 deaths worldwide. Seven were reported in New York on Tuesday bringing the city’s total to 23.

Tragic mum Jacqui Fleming, 38 and from Glasgow, died in hospital in Paisley last week.

It was the world’s first death from swine flu outside the Americas.

Virus expert Professor Nigel Dimmock, from Warwick University, said: “The flu appears to be mild and the mortality figures are very low – less that one per cent – but we don’t know what is going to happen.