Decomp smell **REVISIT**

[SleuthyGal]

ugh! Is there anything used by medical personnel/funeral workers/morgue personnel that absolutely masks/filters that smell to nearly 100%? Like a gas mask type contraption?

 

[TURBOTHINK]

That's what I assumed too, and maybe she was somehow immune to it or had a cold (though I don't recall her having any kind of cold or sinus issue, but who knows)...I can only pass along what she told me. She said his mattress wasn't stained either. I don't know; I personally wasn't inside his apt so I can't say what was/wasn't detectable for sure.

It rather sounds like she just did not want the family to think of him like that. Sounds like she was trying to protect them.

I have been at gunshot scenes and just the odor of large amounts of blood makes some persons nauseous and faint.

 

[JusticeorJustUs]

We used clods of Vicks in school for unrefridgerated autopsies.

Now they have these things called "respirators".

Yes, it was once used. It isn't anymore.

 

[TURBOTHINK]

ugh! Is there anything used by medical personnel/funeral workers/morgue personnel that absolutely masks/filters that smell to nearly 100%? Like a gas mask type contraption?

There is a type of isolation/surgical face mask which is treated with an odor absorbing, crystalline, siliceous molecular sieve material in order to reduce gaseous foul odors related to the biological, chemical or microbial decomposition of organic matter which has been invented, but is not on the market yet that I know of.

Most people in the field become somewhat immune to the smell after a while. It still gets in your clothes and hair, but the smell does not make one nauseous as in the beginning.

 

[TURBOTHINK]

Now they have these things called "respirators".

Yes, it was once used. It isn't anymore.

We always had respirators, but our professors would not allow their use.

 

[SleuthyGal]

It rather sounds like she just did not want the family to think of him like that. Sounds like she was trying to protect them.

I have been at gunshot scenes and just the odor of large amounts of blood makes some persons nauseous and faint.

I dunno...my mother is not someone to protect her family's feelings (strangers, yes, family NO). In fact, in contrast, the funeral home was apparently unable to embalm my brother for some reason (something to do with the condition of his arteries/veins) and therefore could only do a topical application of embalming solution. My mother was very concerned about their being a possible odor at the funeral so she instructed the funeral home to put the casket w/his body in the hearse and have it there the whole time, and then put an empty casket in the funeral home for the service itself. So clearly she was concerned about there being an odor since it had been several days since he died and complete embalming after the autopsy was not possible.

I asked her directly when she came back from being in his apt. for 8 hrs (the day after his funeral), clearing it out, if she detected any odor and she said no. I doubt she'd lie to me about it; she'd certainly not do it to protect my feelings (heh, you'd have to know how critical my mother is to understand).

 

[TURBOTHINK]

I dunno...my mother is not someone to protect her family's feelings (strangers, yes, family NO). In fact, in contrast, the funeral home was apparently unable to embalm my brother for some reason (something to do with the condition of his arteries/veins) and therefore could only do a topical application of embalming solution. My mother was very concerned about their being a possible odor at the funeral so she instructed the funeral home to put the casket w/his body in the hearse and have it there the whole time, and then put an empty casket in the funeral home for the service itself. So clearly she was concerned about there being an odor since it had been several days since he died and complete embalming after the autopsy was not possible.

I asked her directly when she came back from being in his apt. for 8 hrs (the day after his funeral), clearing it out, if she detected any odor and she said no. I doubt she'd lie to me about it; she'd certainly not do it to protect my feelings (heh, you'd have to know how critical my mother is to understand).

That is very interesting...........

 

[JusticeorJustUs]

We always had respirators, but our professors would not allow their use.

That I really don't understand. The smell alone would be enough to turn a possibly very astute medical examiner of the future off doing the work before becoming "immune".

My son's class is allowed the use of respirators.

Times have changed in that regard, I suppose.

 

[momtective]

I was wondering about the "chicken"...in TonyL's statement I believe he mentions that KC had Tyson "Chicken". Now, I'm wondering if we're talking breaded chicken strips, raw chicken breasts or raw whole chicken. The reason I ask is that several years ago before leaving on a week long vacation I prepared chicken for dinner. Hubby forgot to take the trash before we left for vacation the following morning. When we returned a week later we could hardly bare to enter the house. The smell from the rotten chicken in the trash can was overwhelming and there were maggots all over the trash can and kitchen floor. It was the most disgusting thing I've ever smelled and it lingered for weeks even after bleaching the trash can and the kitchen floor. I have smelled animal decomp and live in an area abundant with chicken growers so the smell of rotting chicken corpses is something we live with daily. I'm just wondering if it was raw chicken and it leaked in the trunk could that have been the cause of the smell and the maggots?

 

[AutomaticAuttie]

We always had respirators, but our professors would not allow their use.

You preformed autopsies in school? Are you a doctor or something of that nature?

 

[AutomaticAuttie]

I was wondering about the "chicken"...in TonyL's statement I believe he mentions that KC had Tyson "Chicken". Now, I'm wondering if we're talking breaded chicken strips, raw chicken breasts or raw whole chicken. The reason I ask is that several years ago before leaving on a week long vacation I prepared chicken for dinner. Hubby forgot to take the trash before we left for vacation the following morning. When we returned a week later we could hardly bare to enter the house. The smell from the rotten chicken in the trash can was overwhelming and there were maggots all over the trash can and kitchen floor. It was the most disgusting thing I've ever smelled and it lingered for weeks even after bleaching the trash can and the kitchen floor. I have smelled animal decomp and live in an area abundant with chicken growers so the smell of rotting chicken corpses is something we live with daily. I'm just wondering if it was raw chicken and it leaked in the trunk could that have been the cause of the smell and the maggots?

Yuck! I hate cleaning chicken for dinner.

 

[JusticeorJustUs]

I was wondering about the "chicken"...in TonyL's statement I believe he mentions that KC had Tyson "Chicken". Now, I'm wondering if we're talking breaded chicken strips, raw chicken breasts or raw whole chicken. The reason I ask is that several years ago before leaving on a week long vacation I prepared chicken for dinner. Hubby forgot to take the trash before we left for vacation the following morning. When we returned a week later we could hardly bare to enter the house. The smell from the rotten chicken in the trash can was overwhelming and there were maggots all over the trash can and kitchen floor. It was the most disgusting thing I've ever smelled and it lingered for weeks even after bleaching the trash can and the kitchen floor. I have smelled animal decomp and live in an area abundant with chicken growers so the smell of rotting chicken corpses is something we live with daily. I'm just wondering if it was raw chicken and it leaked in the trunk could that have been the cause of the smell and the maggots?

The dogs wouldn't have alerted on chicken decomp.

 

[momtective]

The dogs wouldn't have alerted on chicken decomp.

You're right...what was I thinking!:waitasec:

 

[AutomaticAuttie]

The dogs wouldn't have alerted on chicken decomp.

I wonder why the dog alerted to the right side of the trunk when all the evidence in the trunk with any importance (hair) was found on the left side?

 

[JusticeorJustUs]

I wonder why the dog alerted to the right side of the trunk when all the evidence in the trunk with any importance (hair) was found on the left side?

The dog alerted to the odor eminating from the vehicle. The trunk is a contained area. The odor would eminate from whatever area was "least sealed". If there was a break in the trunk seal on the right the smell would come from there. It doesn't necessarily mean that the decomp material is right there, on the right. The "scent" is eminating from there.

Had the weaker seal been on the left the dog would have no doubt hit there either first or also. Had the stronger scent been coming from the interior the dog would have alerted there.

eta: The dog alerted where he smelled the scent the strongest.

 

[CBTampa]

It is possible that the tow truck driver didn't smell it because it had been sitting outside and exposed to the air? I thought the car was locked, so he could not have gotten in to the car. Perhaps after it was sitting in the garage at tow yard for two weeks (inside of the garage) the smell accumulated.

 

[JusticeorJustUs]

It is possible that the tow truck driver didn't smell it because it had been sitting outside and exposed to the air? I thought the car was locked, so he could not have gotten in to the car. Perhaps after it was sitting in the garage at tow yard for two weeks (inside of the garage) the smell accumulated.

I believe yes.

The actual body wasn't in the car when he picked it up. Depending upon where he hooked the car up and his sense of smell he might not have noticed.

Having no circulation during that two weeks time the smell would remain. Might even intensify as decomp of whatever fluids/tissue/etc. was there continued to permeate the interior. Especially in the Florida heat.

 

[Theonly1]

The dog alerted to the odor eminating from the vehicle. The trunk is a contained area. The odor would eminate from whatever area was "least sealed". If there was a break in the trunk seal on the right the smell would come from there. It doesn't necessarily mean that the decomp material is right there, on the right. The "scent" is eminating from there.

Had the weaker seal been on the left the dog would have no doubt hit there either first or also. Had the stronger scent been coming from the interior the dog would have alerted there.

eta: The dog alerted where he smelled the scent the strongest.

Hehe! The dog can't tell us (short of giving his "signal") exactly where the decomp is located. Too bad dogs can't talk or point their fingers ("yo, it's right there, stupid humans!"). I've seen cases where they took cadaver dogs out to a site where the dogs "hit" and then criminalists dug and could not find a body. Going back another time (with more evidence that is the right area) they can later find the body a few feet from the original digging site. The dogs smell it but sometimes the scent is in the air.

 

[JusticeorJustUs]

Hehe! The dog can't tell us (short of giving his "signal") exactly where the decomp is located. Too bad dogs can't talk or point their fingers ("yo, it's right there, stupid humans!"). I've seen cases where they took cadaver dogs out to a site where the dogs "hit" and then criminalists dug and could not find a body. Going back another time (with more evidence that is the right area) they can later find the body a few feet from the original digging site. The dogs smell it but sometimes the scent is in the air.

Exactly the same thing that I was referring to when I posted about the use of porcine an Pseudo and smaller cadaver parts. If the smell is that of a larger cadaver (whole body) and the dog is only trained on bits and pieces and a slight scent, he'll alert at the "slight scent" and not necessarily where the body is located. The outskirts of the scent.

hehehe...now, wanna talk about water searches?

Pity they don't have a smilie with a dog slapping the snot out of a human for not "getting it", isn't there? LOL

 

[Brini]

I have smelled a decomposing rat and was told it was NOTHING like a decomposing human. Human flesh psroduces different chemicals than animals do. Kobe explained this very well BEFORE he was hired for the defense. Dogs are trained to alert on two chemicals produced by HUMAN decomp.

I'm sure you are right. I've ONLY smelled human decomp, so I have no comparison.