How can people watch an autopsy?

[Grands]

I was always scared about this argument, the autopsy.
I'm asking how can a person watch person that is died and that will going to be cut and opened ?

I know it's science, but it's very disgusting for me, and I know that my fear is strage because is like being afraid of how our body it's made.

 

[berkeman]

Dealing with the human body and injuries and surgery are not for everybody. Many people are queasy about such things, so they don't go into Medicine or Emergency Services. There is nothing wrong with that.

 

[jim mcnamara]

Your fear simply has no meaning, except for you. Others may not share that fear. Do not try to project your fears onto other people.

Medical students sometimes are revolted or faint when they first work on a cadaver in med school.
If you have a strong fear of something like this, do not watch an autopsy. A lot of medical science depends on facts from autopsies, so they are not going away.

I taught human biology to students from a very non-Western culture. They had totally different perspectives on dead people. Instead of using prepared human specimens, we had a complete of models and an 'anatomic Annie', a very expensive complete human model. As well as Carolina Biological Supply's plastic full scale human skeleton.

This really is not a type of subject suitable for PF. I have referred it to other mentors who may close the thread.

 

[BillTre]

I am guessing that (in the US) it would not be an easy thing to be allowed to see an autopsy unless you were a medical employee, law enforcement person, or medical student of some kind.

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) rules generally place privacy and security rules on access to information about people's (living and dead) health conditions. The easiest way for a busy management to enforce these kinds of restrictions would be a general denial of access to things like this, unless there is a good obvious reason (medial, law enforcement, teaching) for an exception.

There are also potential contamination issues, including from aerosols if a power saw is used to get through the skull.
Administrators would not want responsibility for this.
Even getting access to preserved humans brains (used in teaching neuroanatomy) is not entirely simple.

I often work in hospital morgues, removing corneas from dead people. Most of these kinds of morgues are not set-up for an audience.

In movies I have seen OR's, probably in medical schools, where an audience can be seated separated by a glass wall. This might be the most likely path, get a pass to tag along with a class event.

If you are queasy about viewing dead people, you could do things to mitigate that beforehand:
Gradually exposing yourself to increasingly dire situations might reduce your negative reactions. This can be done by watching or doing dissections on animals (in the proper circumstances, such as in a class) before viewing humans, or other things like that.

 

[jedishrfu]

This can be a very traumatic discussion for some folks here who have lost a loved one and learned about the autopsy that followed. Often there are laws in place to harvest organs with or without consent for the public good but it can also deeply disturb a grieving relative to learn of it or to see its effects at the funeral parlor.

So in the interests of the PF community, I am closing this thread and thank everyone for contributing.

Jedi