Assembly line Quote by Eric Klinenberg
““It’s like an assembly line in there,” one officer said. In many cases police delivered decomposed bodies to the morgue several days after the date of death because no one had noticed that the person had not been seen in awhile. It was impossible to know how many more victims remained in their homes, undiscovered. By Saturday the number of bodies coming in to the morgue exceeded its 222-bay holding capacity by hundreds. Incoming bodies were scattered around the office, and many of the examined corpses remained unclaimed because there were no next of kin. The owner of a local meat-packing firm volunteered to bring his fleet of refrigerated trucks to the morgue for storing the excess bodies. The first group of red and yellow vehicles, each about forty-eight feet long, arrived on Friday, but they filled up quickly and dozens of bodies remained.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Palaces for the People, 2018
Overwhelmed morgues used refrigerated trucks to store excess bodies, highlighting systemic failures in crisis response and victim identification.
In simple terms: Morgues overflow, requiring improvised storage.
Key Takeaway
Improve crisis management and victim tracking.
Themes
public health
crisis response
humanitarian
Mood
urgent
somber
Type
policy
humanitarian
When to use this quote
- disaster relief
- public safety
- policy reform
Key Concepts
logistics
infrastructure
emergency planning
Questions to Reflect On
- How can morgue capacity be expanded?
- What protocols prevent such overloads?
A Different Perspective
Resources may be insufficient for large‑scale emergencies.
