Stockton Course Report

Radiography in the Incident Mortuary
23rd & 24th September 2006 – Durham University

Just like the previous month's UKFRRT training course in Cirencester, the Northern version of this popular course was just as well attended and enjoyed by all. Delegates travelled the length and breadth of the country to attend the AFR’s second training seminar of the year.

The morning session, chaired by Beverley Tweed from Hull Royal Infirmary kicked off with 3 informative lectures, commencing with Gail Jefferson from the University of Lancaster with a lecture entitled ‘from Lockerbie to London’ describing the use of forensic radiography in UK incidents over the recent years, - followed by Catherine Rock our UKFRRT co-ordinator discussing organisation and call out for the UKFRRT and giving an overview of resilience in the UK in the case of major disaster, session 1 concluded with Katie Whittham from James Cook hospital on the intriguing subject of ‘Radiography in a Tent’, going over the roles and responsibilities within the incident mortuary. After coffee and danish pastries, Brian Cox also of the James Cook hospital, discussed the what’s, how’s and why’s of fluoroscopy and plain film imaging within the mortuary setting and was followed by a very popular lecture from Claire Robinson from the Leicester Royal Infirmary on the role of CT in mass fatality incidents with particular reference to its possible role in the future. Susie Dick from York Hospital concluded the morning session by discussing the AFR’s paperwork and how it is used to assist in maintaining continuity of evidence during mass fatality investigations.

After a very pleasant lunch, the afternoon session chaired by Elizabeth McSorley continued with the ever-popular Dr Freddie Martin giving a very candid and personal account of the role of the Forensic Odontologist in the Forensic Investigation of mass fatality, this was then followed most appropriately by John Beamer from North Hants NHS trust giving a whistle-stop tour of dental radiographic techniques and the protocols adopted by the AFR, prior to afternoon tea, Wayne Hoban from the Royal Free hospital gave an informative lecture on health and safety matters which must be considered when undertaking mass fatality radiography. During the tea break, candidates who were unable to attend day 2 of the conference were offered the opportunity to walk through the temporary mortuary set up which was to be used for the practical training the following day.The day came to an end with Jacqui Vallis from Teesside University giving a fascinating lecture on the welfare of the radiographer in relation to mass fatalities.

This ended an interesting and informative day that seemed to capture everyone’s enthusiasm and this carried over into the second day. Stockton campus put on an excellent 3 course meal in the evening where members of the committee and delegates alike got to catch up on both professional and non-professional matters, for the more hard core among us, the evening moved along to a local drinking establishment where karaoke threatened to rear it’s ugly head but where most of the delegates were out numbered by the locals who made a much better job of it!

After rather a late night for several people, Sunday saw the practical training undertaken in the form of several workshops. The group were split into small sub groups and given the opportunity to work their way around several workstations where they were given the opportunity to get some ‘hands-on’ practical experience and to see how the AFR paperwork fits in. Workstations comprised of fluoroscopy techniques, where they were given the chance to practice screening a body bag in real time, using the technique to locate artefacts and pathology and map their location on the paperwork, other workstations included dental radiography, practical planning and chain of evidence – a discussion group, which looked at workflow within the mortuary and helped to outline the roles and responsibilities of all involved. The final workshop was a useful exercise in which delegates got to develop their image interpretation skills through practical film viewing.

After coffee, the day was brought to a close by Jacquie Vallis who undertook a structured debrief with all the delegates to assess the value of the training given and gave everyone the opportunity to give some feedback on the course, and their perceived ability to cope in any future mass fatality incident. All in all, the 2-day seminar was deemed a hit by both the candidates and the trainers alike and we hope that all future events will be equally as popular.