Wish List

“If we had a mass disaster, what are we going to do?”

Tom Iverson Jr.

Director of the Piscataquis County Emergency Management Agency

Tom Iverson Jr., director of the Piscataquis County Emergency Management Agency in Maine, took his wish list to county commissioners last month. At the top of his list? A portable morgue. Made me wonder: What’s been happening in Piscataquis County, with its picturesque forests and 17,535 residents, to give Mr. Iverson concern? I did a quick Google search. Perhaps the county had suffered calamitous natural disasters. Not really—mostly what it suffers are snowstorms, some pretty darn heavy, but this is Maine so that can’t be unexpected. Okay, maybe a catastrophe? There was a terrible fire in 1947 that burned 175,000 acres, but the fire was in southeastern Maine and Piscataquis County is in the middle of the state. How about an epidemic? The only one I could find was a blight epidemic, and that one attacked plants not people.

So what put the bee in Mr. Iverson’s bonnet? He’s concerned because Piscataquis County hosts events, such as the U.S. Cross Country snowmobile races, that draw thousands of people each year and, worst case scenario, what if something terrible happened during such an event? That might give you pause for thought. So how big would this portable morgue be? According to Mr. Iverson, it would be a “rack morgue” and could keep 16 bodies cooled at one time. Hmm. Looking at the big picture in Piscataquis County, perhaps Mr. Iverson’s wish list would do better to include parkas and snow shovels and not cooling racks for bodies.

Read the Article ® Pitch made for purchase of portable morgue for Piscataquis County