Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

Dr. Garfield Blake, immediate past president of the Jamaica Association of Clinical Pathologists, has renewed calls for the Government to increase the number of forensic pathologists.

The role of the forensic pathologist is to determine the cause and manner of death in incidents such as homicides, accidents, suicides, suspicious deaths, sudden and unexpected deaths, among others.

Currently, there are five forensic pathologists across the island, but the Medical Association of Jamaica says the ideal number of pathologists to deal with the high workload should be 12-15, with a caseload of three cases per week.

"To say that we are short is an understatement. We need not just personnel but we need resources," Dr. Blake, who demitted office as president on Saturday, told The Gleaner yesterday.

According to Dr. Blake, with some 1,500 murders each year as well as numerous suicides and traffic accidents, there should be far more forensic pathologists to deal with the high number of cases.

He noted that while there is a programme to train pathologists, training is primarily in surgical pathology and persons usually have to go abroad to specialise in the forensic area of the profession.

Woolmer's death

The call for more forensic pathologists comes on the heels of the murder of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer. Mr. Woolmer was pronounced dead at the University Hospital of the West Indies, March 18, two hours after he was found unconscious in his room at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston.

An autopsy, lasting some three hours, was conducted on Mr. Woolmer, the Tuesday after his death.

Meanwhile, Dr. Carolyn Gomes, executive director of Jamaicans For Justice, said the same time should be allotted to Jamaicans who require forensic autopsy.

"We are concerned about the way forensic autopsies are done," she said. Dr. Gomes explained that bodies are not properly dissected, fingerprinted and are often buried with bullets.

The executive director pointed to several cases where family members and her organisation were dissatisfied with autopsies conducted on loved ones.

petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com