Bannock County Coroner’s Office adds new mobile trailer, targets further improvements
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POCATELLO — Thanks to a donation from the Greater Idaho Healthcare Coalition, the Bannock County Coroner’s Office has filled a key need by adding a mobile morgue trailer.
The trailer, Coroner Torey Danner told EastIdahoNews.com, grants the county and surrounding areas the means to handle a mass-casualty incident. It also provides Bannock County with access to additional morgue beds.
Bannock County’s need for a morgue trailer was especially evident during the Downard Funeral Home investigation, which led to the discovery of 12 decomposing and unrefrigerated bodies and 61 fetuses.
During the investigation, Danner was forced to call in a favor with the Ada County Coroner’s Office to manage the scene. It is Danner’s goal to make the Bannock County Coroner’s Office completely self-sufficient while best serving its 90,000 residents and the countless who travel to and through the region.
“We want to make sure we are doing the absolute best we can for the people that we serve,” he said. “We cannot do that if we’re not trying to evolve, we’re not trying to learn, we’re not trying to grow.”
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The morgue trailer is refrigerated and capable of storing more than 20 bodies, which Danner explained will come in handy should a mass-casualty incident ever befall the region. But it can also be used for storage should Danner’s office have a need exceeding the county’s three available morgue beds.
Danner called in a “staggering” and “shocking” experience discovering that a county as large as Bannock had access to just three morgue beds.
Any need beyond what is available, Danner said, was met through favors from local funeral homes.
“To me, that’s a big problem because now I’m relying on our relationships with the funeral homes, and it’s not really their responsibility,” he said.
Soon, the county is hopeful its morgue needs will be met with the East Idaho Forensic Pathology Center. Once operational, the facility will not only serve as the state’s second autopsy site, but it will also include additional morgue beds.
But, Danner said, because there is no timeline for the development of that facility, he had to look at other options.
“I can’t rely on (the pathology center), I have to handle the things that are here and now,” he said.
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According to Bannock County spokeswoman Emma Iannacone, further advancements have been made in the development process. The county recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Idaho State University confirming the partnership between the two.
The next step in the process, Iannacone told EastIdahoNews.com, is “nailing down” a location.
As she said, a previously selected location was determined to have accessibility issues that disqualified it as an option. Until a location is decided, which the county is hopeful to have done in the next month or two, there is no expected timeline for completion.
“We’re in limbo as we explore options,” Iannacone said.
In addition to the mobile morgue trailer, Danner has identified four needs for his office to properly serve Bannock County.
As he told EastIdahoNews.com, he is in the budgeting stage of adding a third investigator to his office and a truck to its fleet.
Currently, the Bannock County Coroner’s Office — which is on-call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — is made up of Danner and his chief deputy coroner, J.R. Farnsworth.
Danner hopes the county can create the budget to hire a third full-time investigator.
“Everything falls on budgeting. It’s explaining the need and getting the buy-in from the commission,” he said.
The goal of the office, Danner said, is to constantly evolve to be ahead of the needs of his community.
“I never want to see us be in a position where we cannot do the best for the people, either that are coming through our area or that live in our area,” he said.