Hidden Heroes and Casualties of the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Scott Schmidt, President, New York State Association of County Coroners & Medical Examiners

This pandemic has challenged us professionally, individually, and collectively as a nation. We have witnessed acts of courage and selflessness, as well as actions which have elicited feelings of sadness, disgust, and disbelief.

Challenging times bring out the best, and sometimes the worst, in society. COVID-19 and all its variant (current and yet to appear) is no different. Yet with all the challenges the virus has sent our way, we still forge ahead. We offer our gratitude for the people on the front lines of this scourge; first responders, law enforcement, fire, and EMS (Emergency Medical Services) personnel, as well those in the medical field who are exhausted, short staffed and face this virus head-on every minute of each day.

We are all grateful and offer our heart-felt gratitude for their dedication and sacrifices. Though we rightly see their heroism in the news frequently, there are other unsung heroes and victims that deserve our recognition and attention.

Coroners and Medical Examiners

With ever increasing deaths and an uptick in homicides in many cities, morgue capacity is maxed out in Medical Examiners’ offices and hospitals. As with many other professions, staffing has become an issue due to illness and quarantine. Hospitals have procured refrigerated trailers for temporary body storage which the media fawns over and tries to sensationalize pictures of bodies being placed into the trailers.

What the media do not tell you is that this is a customary practice and accepted protocol used in Mass Fatality Incidents. Our thanks go to the Coroners, Medical Examiners, Morgue Staff, and Scene Technicians who are also exhausted with caseloads backing up and, in many instances, having to handle 8-12 cases per day in addition to their normal case load.

Funeral Directors

For over two years, they have had to endure not only the handling of infected remains and extensive procedures to disinfect their facilities, but they have also had to adhere to the restrictions preventing them from providing many services that bereaved families would traditionally choose when a loved one dies. Funeral Directors have a calling to help ease the pain of families who have had a loved one die by taking care of the dead with dignity, care, respect, professionalism, and love. They have dedicated their lives to serving the needs of grieving families in the various traditions of ‘saying goodbye.’ The challenges of situational mandates and guidelines cause pain for many Funeral Directors because they were not able to provide the services that many families wanted per family or religious tradition.

This was not only difficult for the families to accept but truly created personal strife for many Funeral Service professionals who consider their career choice a calling. Yet, they forged ahead providing the utmost care and professional loving service to the best of their ability despite being hamstrung by the mandates and guidelines placed upon them.

Opioid Victims

The COVID-19 pandemic, with its new guidelines, everchanging mandates, new variants, and conflicting information has held a firm grip on our public discourse, allowing a stunning reality and ever-present epidemic to lurk in its shadow. Over the last two years, opioid overdoses and fatalities from overdoses rose over 30 percent.

People who were fighting addiction, in recovery, or using for the first time, were forced to isolate, forced to stay home from work with loss of income, and many people had no way to interact with other people. They picked up, or returned to the only thing which could give them relief in a bigger and deadlier way. The resulting 30 percent increase in overdoses and deaths due to overdose is nothing short of frightening. So much so that the State Associations of Counties, County Coroners & Medical Examiners, and Funeral Directors addressed this last year and reintroduced the See the Signs-Save a Life campaign.

May we all be thankful for those who sacrificed to help stabilize our society in this pandemic. May we all remember those who are silently hurting and may need some additional support or mental health assistance. May we all learn how to “See the Signs” in hopes of perhaps being able to “Save a Life” in a world increasingly troubled and plagued by addiction.

And may we all remember how important it is to find understanding and compassion for the needs of others, and to do our best to be kind in a hurting world.