Not Enough Space for Bodies at Ohio Coroner’s Office

(Spring 2017) The increasing number of drug overdose deaths in Ohio’s Montgomery County is leading to a shortage of body storage at its coroner’s office. Home to the city of Dayton, the county has performed 145 overdose-related autopsies involving heroin and fentanyl in just the first months of 2017. At this rate, overdose deaths in Montgomery County are expected to more than double last year’s statistics.

Last year, to compensate for the county’s rising death toll, the coroner’s office added a dozen spaces to its refrigerators. Yet, the rise in overdose deaths has already overrun those expansion efforts. County Coroner Dr. Kent Harshbarger may now be forced to approach local funeral homes to rent space to accommodate the overspill.

As evidenced by the CDC’s findings (see Heroin, Fentanyl Fuel Overdose-Death Spike), Montgomery County statistics, unfortunately, follow a trend seen both in Ohio and nationwide. The burgeoning number of overdose deaths is impacting coroners’ offices in other Ohio counties as well. For example, Cleveland’s Cuyahoga County reported 517 deaths connected with heroin and fentanyl last year, compared to 228 in 2015.

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