On a Bedford Township hilltop, a group of coroners from across the state were staging a scenario Tuesday that they hope they never have to repeat.
Stainless steel tools were being unloaded from a trailer equipped to set up a temporary morgue.
A 240-square-foot enclosed tent was being set up as a makeshift work station, and a mobile refrigeration unit was running behind them, designed to lower air temperatures inside to properly hold and preserve dozens of bodies.
Sept. 11 served as a tragic lesson that, when large-scale disasters occur, county coroners have to be prepared to respond at a similar level – making them caretakers for potentially dozens of bodies they could easily be ill-equipped to take into their custody, let alone identify.