24x7 autopsies now at Osmania General Hospital

HYDERABAD: The Osmania General Hospital (OGH)  on Tuesday announced that post-mortem procedures in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology will be available 24/7 from now on. Until now, post-mortem examinations (PME) in government hospitals were carried out only between 9 am and 4 pm. Bodies taken to the mortuary post the working hours were left unexamined until the next day. 

“After a lot of wait, the forensics department in the hospital will be finally available even during the night,” said OGH superintendent Dr B Nagender.“Post-mortem examination during the night was started last month. Recruitment of new doctors, technicians and everything else fell in place two days ago,” said an official working in the department. The procedures will take place according to the protocol issued by the Union Ministry of Health Medical and Family Welfare on November 15, 2021. 

As per the guidelines, cases under categories such as murder, suicide, rape, decomposed bodies, suspected foul play should not be subjected to post-mortem examination during the nighttime unless there is a law and order situation. 

“PMEs in road accident cases only on the requisition of the police and in case of organ donation can be conducted during night,” said the official. Video recording of all PMEs is compulsory in all the cases to rule out any suspicion, he added. For this, three additional doctors have been recruited by the government. The government has provided free vehicles to transport bodies from the hospital to various destinations in the State. 

Relatives of the deceased can contact OGH on 040 - 24600146/ 604 or Official Resident Medical on 9849902977 to avail this facility.

3 more docs deployed

To enable OGH to run the facility round the clock, three additional doctors have been recruited by the government. The government has provided free vehicles to transport bodies from the hospital to various destinations in the State