The Orleans Parish coroner started moving bodies to LSU Wednesday for autopsies after a broken air conditioner forced a temporary halt on autopsies.
Orleans Parish Coroner Dwight McKenna said his office will take two bodies at a time for autopsies while repairs continue on the coroner’s office air conditioner.
McKenna said that the coolers in the morgue are running, but due to the heat in the building, staff are unable to perform autopsies.
According to McKenna, contractors are working to fix the issue with the air conditioner. However, specialty parts are needed to fix the issue completely.
McKenna said that it may take longer for some death certificates to be issued because of the added time to transport the bodies to LSU to conduct the autopsies.
There may also be delays in the release of bodies to families or funeral homes.
The City of New Orleans issued the following statement providing an update on the outage:
“City of New Orleans contractors are currently recharging the air conditioning system with refrigerant. This week’s inclement weather and resultant power outage on Monday caused some additional delays with the installation of the new control boards.
“The contractors have worked through these issues and have one circuit running, with much of the building’s temperature registering within the 70s. The City expects the second circuit to be operational by days end, which will drop the autopsy room to the Coroner’s preferred temperature. The autopsy room is currently at 71 degrees which is in line with the design specifications of the room.”
READ MORE:Orleans Parish coroner begins moving bodies to LSU for autopsies
