03 Dramatis personae (Autopsy - A Screenwriter's Guide)
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This article is from the Autopsy - A Screenwriter's Guide FAQ, by Edward O. Uthman uthman@neosoft.com with numerous contributions by others.
03 Dramatis personae (Autopsy - A Screenwriter's Guide)
Immediately before the autopsy, the body is removed from the
cooler by a morgue attendant who will help with the autopsy.
This individual is called a DIENER (DEE-ner), which is
German for "servant." Most dieners do not realize the
derivation of this word and would probably object to being
called "diener" if they did. Dieners are not formally
trained, but many have some background of employment in the
funeral industry. For some reason, in the southern U.S.
anyway, about ninety per cent of dieners (my estimate) are
African-American. I would estimate that less than ten per
cent of dieners are female. Dieners tend to work at their
job for decades. I think this is because 1) management types
don't know what goes on in the morgue, and would not care to
mess around with its staffing come belt-tightening time, and
2) dieners are pretty much left alone by management and
enjoy a much greater degree of autonomy than most workers at
their pay grade and level of education. My own impression of
the "diener personality" is that they are somewhat secretive
and cliquish, and one gets the idea that they have a lot
more going on in their lives than they tend to let on. It is
not uncommon for them to receive a variety of strange
visitors in the morgue, some of whom have a less than savory
appearance. For fiction writers, I think there is a lot of
character development potential for dieners.
There has been a general belief that some dieners also take
payment under the table for notifying funeral homes of
deaths in the hospital (so that the funeral home can send an
agent out to approach the family), but I am not aware of any
cases where this allegation was proved. From my own
experiences, I know that in some cities the funeral home
business is extraordinarily competitive, and I am aware of
one case where agents of two funeral homes got into a
physical altercation in the morgue over the disposition of a
body that each claimed.
The other individual directly involved in the autopsy is the
PROSECTOR. This is the individual who is in charge of the
actual dissection. In small hospitals, the prosector is a
Board-certified pathologist, an MD or DO (osteopath) who has
undergone a four- or five-year residency in the specialty of
pathology, specifically anatomic pathology. In university-
based hospitals with teaching programs, the prosector is a
pathology resident (a physician who is training to be a
pathologist) or a medical student taking an elective
rotation in pathology. In larger non-university-based
hospitals covered by large pathology groups, the prosector
may be a pathologist's assistant. The "PA" is typically a
graduate of an associate or baccalaureate program which
provides training in several areas of pathology, especially
those that involve "hands-on" activities, such as autopsy
dissections, dissections of specimens removed at surgery,
specimen photography, and video applications. PA's enjoy
excellent pay and benefits (US$40,000 to start) in their
little-known area, and the demand for PA's continues to
exceed supply.
Other individuals may be present at the autopsy, usually for
educational opportunities. These may include the attending
or consulting physicians, residents, medical students,
nurses, respiratory therapists, and others involved in
direct patient care.
The prosector and diener wear fairly simple protective
equipment, including scrub suits, gowns, gloves (typically
two pair), shoe covers, and clear plastic face shields. Some
facilities have sealed-environment "space suits," but I
think one is more likely to infect himself as a result of
the clumsiness lent by these suits than if he were dressed
more lightly in the interest of nimbleness.
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