Body bag
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A body bag, also known as a cadaver pouch or human remains pouch (HRP), is a non-porous bag designed to contain a
History
In the United States, the apparent first documented bag for the purpose of transporting bodies was patented under the name "Improvement in Receptacles for Dead Bodies." The patent was filed during the Civil War by Dr. Thomas Holmes, United States Patent No. 39, 291. The purpose of the bag, as stated in the patent application dated July 21, 1863 was, "... to facilitate the carrying of badly-wounded dead bodies hurriedly away that could not otherwise be quickly removed for the want of proper conveyances, or difficulty to procure boxes or coffins for removing the dead, as the boxes or coffins cannot be so easily transported or handled on the field of battle." He said that he'd "invented a new and useful Elastic and Deodorizing Receptacle."[2]
Uses
Body bags can also be used for the storage of corpses within
In modern warfare, body bags have been used to contain the bodies of dead soldiers. Disaster agencies typically have reserves of body bags, both for anticipated wars and natural disasters. During the Cold War, vast reserves of body bags were built up in anticipation of millions of fatalities from nuclear war.[citation needed] This was the subject of Adrian Mitchell's protest poem "Fifteen Million Plastic Bags".
Body bags are sometimes portrayed in films and television as being made of a heavy black plastic. Lightweight white body bags have since become popular because it is much easier to spot a piece of evidence that may have been jostled from the body in transit on a white background than on a black background. Even so, black body bags are still in general use. Other typical colors include orange, blue, or gray. Body bags used in the Vietnam War were heavy-duty black rubberized fabric. Regardless of their color, body bags are made of thick plastic and have a full-length
Although body bags are most often used for the transport of human remains from their place of discovery to a
During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in the mid-2000s the military began using body bags as a rapid means of delivering ammunition, supplies, batteries, rations, water cans, and other items to small units in the field. The body bags with less than 100 pounds of supplies were loaded in helicopters. Upon landing they were quickly shoved out the doors and troops on the ground grabbed the carrying handles and dragged them to cover as the helicopters departed.
The term "body bag" is sometimes used for fashion or other bags worn on the body (sling body bag or across body bag) and this sense has no connection with either of the two above senses.
White body bags were used to differentiate the charred mannequins and eight teenage victims of the Haunted Castle fire at Six Flags Great Adventure in 1984.
See also
References
- ^ Zimmer, Ben (4 April 2006). "Do they really call body bags "transfer tubes"?". Slate.
- ^ "Improvement in receptacles for dead bodies".