Hinsdale South students experience trip to DuPage morgue

As seen in the Chicago Tribune on January 25, 2018, as written by Kimberly Fornek:

Students in the Future Healthcare Professionals Club at Hinsdale South High School learned the responsibilities and procedures of the DuPage County Coroner's Office Tuesday during a tour of the facility.

That included the tip from coroner Richard Jorgensen that murderers sometimes try to cover up a crime by setting a fire.

His staff was working on identifying the elderly couple who died in a fire in their Addison home Jan. 22. There was nothing suspicious about the Addison fire, but coroners routinely X-ray all bodies that from fires. In the past, X-rays have shown bullets in people's heads, although the bullet hole was not visible on the burnt body.

The coroner's office has its own X-ray department which is much more efficient than when the deputy coroners had to take bodies to the hospital to use X-ray equipment there, he said.

The office is responsible for investigating all sudden or suspicious deaths in the county. Jorgensen explained that Illinois statute dictates the role of the coroner's office and its regulations, such as prohibiting anyone from moving a body in an accident or sudden death until the coroner's office says it's OK.

His staff includes a forensic pathologist who does all the autopsies, 10 deputy coroners, one chief deputy coroner and autopsy technicians who work in the morgue. They investigate more than 5,000 deaths a year, Jorgensen said.

Jorgensen said he is one of only four coroners in Illinois who are doctors. Unlike the Cook County medical examiner, which is an appointed position, the DuPage County coroner is elected.

The students did not see an autopsy nor go inside the morgue, but did see where the bodies are brought, the scale used to weigh them, the evidence room, where the autopsies are performed and the viewing room where students, police officers and other law enforcement officials can watch.

Jorgensen said the autopsy method has been done for centuries. "We are very respectful of the body," Jorgensen said.

The corners draw samples of blood, urine, bile and vitreous from the eyes of the deceased. One student asked why they draw fluid from the eye?

Jorgensen said the eye is filled with a gel-like substance that exchanges in the body more slowly than blood or urine, so drugs taken much earlier that may have already passed through other parts of the body could show up in the vitreous humor.

Students asked whether it's more exciting when the coroners are investigating a crime. Jorgensen said it was. Sometimes the press is clamoring for information, he said, but they don't release the identity of the person or the cause of death until next of kin have been notified.

Liz Perez, a senior from Burr Ridge, asked Jorgensen how he became interested in this field.

Jorgensen said he started working in a morgue when he was 16. He had a part-time job in a hospital's electrical department, which was next to the morgue, he said. When he had free time, he talked to the people who worked in the morgue and eventually was assigned there.

"It's not creepy, it's fascinating," Jorgensen said.

As an adult, he became a surgeon. But as he got older, he developed allergies to the chemicals and fabrics used in surgery. He first ran for corroner in 2012, and was re-elected in 2016.

About 30 students are in Future Healthcare Professionals Club, which meets twice a month or so, said Tracy McDonald, who sponsors the club with fellow science teacher Sarah Scanlin.

Tyra Jones, a sophomore from Willowbrook, said she wanted to study forensic science to be a criminal investigator, but after the tour would consider working in a coroner's office.

Brooke Albert, a sophomore from Burr Ridge who wants to be a trauma surgeon in the military, said she likes that the club introduces the students to all branches of medicine.

"It extends your horizons," Albert said.

McDonald and Scanlin invite speakers to talk to the club about a range of health-related careers.

"They talk about what their educational path was, the challenges they had to face and even how much money they had to borrow in student loans," McDonald said.

The source for this story can be viewed here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/burr-ridge/ct-dbr-d86-hinsdale-south-coroner-visit-tl-020-20180125-story.html.