Body bag
Encyclopedia
A body bag is a non-porous bag designed to contain a human body
, used for the storage and transportation of corpses. Body bags can also be used for the storage of corpses within morgue
s. Before purpose-made body bags were available, cotton
mattress
covers were sometimes used, particularly in combat zones during the Second World War. However, the subsequent rubber
(and now plastic
) body-bag designs are much superior, not least because they prevent leakage of body fluids, which often occurs after someone dies. The dimensions of a body-bag are generally around 36 inches by 90 inches (91cm by 229cm).
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
. This was the subject of Adrian Mitchell
's haunting 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. Regardless of their color, body bags are made of thick plastic and have a full-length zipper
on them. Sometimes the zipper runs straight down the middle. Alternatively, the path of the zipper may be J-shaped or D-shaped. Depending on the design, there are sometimes handles (two on each side) to facilitate lifting. It is possible to write information on the plastic surface of a bodybag using a marker pen, and this often happens—either in situ (particularly when a large number of bodies are being collected) or at the mortuary, before being stored in refrigerated cabinets. Alternatively, some designs of body bags have transparent label pockets as an integral part of the design, into which a name-card can be inserted. In any case, a conventional toe tag
can easily be tied to one of the lifting handles if required. Body bags are not designed to be washed and re-used, with good reason: aside from the obvious hygiene concerns, re-use of body bags could easily contaminate evidence in the case of a suspicious death. As a result, body bags are routinely discarded and incinerated after one use.
Although body bags are most often used for the transport of human remains from their place of discovery to a funeral home
or mortuary, they can also be used for temporary burials such as in a combat zone. In such situations, proper funerals are impossible because of imminent enemy attack. This was the situation during the Falklands War
of 1982, during which British dead were placed in gray plastic bodybags and then laid in mass graves. Some months after the conflict ended, all remains were exhumed from their temporary graves to receive a conventional funeral service with full military honors.
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.
With the addition of provision for breathing, specially adapted body bags are also used for the BDSM
practice of mummification
.
Human body
The human body is the entire structure of a human organism, and consists of a head, neck, torso, two arms and two legs.By the time the human reaches adulthood, the body consists of close to 100 trillion cells, the basic unit of life...
, used for the storage and transportation of corpses. Body bags can also be used for the storage of corpses within morgue
Morgue
A morgue or mortuary is used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification, or removal for autopsy or disposal by burial, cremation or otherwise...
s. Before purpose-made body bags were available, cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
mattress
Mattress
A mattress is a manufactured product to sleep or lie on, consisting of resilient materials and covered with an outer fabric or ticking. In the developed world it is typically part of a bed set and is placed upon a foundation....
covers were sometimes used, particularly in combat zones during the Second World War. However, the subsequent rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
(and now plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
) body-bag designs are much superior, not least because they prevent leakage of body fluids, which often occurs after someone dies. The dimensions of a body-bag are generally around 36 inches by 90 inches (91cm by 229cm).
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
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, vast reserves of body bags were built up in anticipation of millions of fatalities from nuclear war
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
. This was the subject of Adrian Mitchell
Adrian Mitchell
Adrian Mitchell FRSL was an English poet, novelist and playwright. A former journalist, he became a noted figure on the British anti-authoritarian Left. For almost half a century he was the foremost poet of the country's anti-Bomb movement...
's haunting 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. Regardless of their color, body bags are made of thick plastic and have a full-length zipper
Zipper
A zipper is a commonly used device for temporarily joining two edges of fabric...
on them. Sometimes the zipper runs straight down the middle. Alternatively, the path of the zipper may be J-shaped or D-shaped. Depending on the design, there are sometimes handles (two on each side) to facilitate lifting. It is possible to write information on the plastic surface of a bodybag using a marker pen, and this often happens—either in situ (particularly when a large number of bodies are being collected) or at the mortuary, before being stored in refrigerated cabinets. Alternatively, some designs of body bags have transparent label pockets as an integral part of the design, into which a name-card can be inserted. In any case, a conventional toe tag
Toe tag
A toe tag is a piece of cardboard normally attached with string to the big toe of a dead person in a morgue. It is used for identification purposes, allowing the mortician, coroner, law enforcement and others involved in the death process to correctly identify the corpse.It usually bears the...
can easily be tied to one of the lifting handles if required. Body bags are not designed to be washed and re-used, with good reason: aside from the obvious hygiene concerns, re-use of body bags could easily contaminate evidence in the case of a suspicious death. As a result, body bags are routinely discarded and incinerated after one use.
Although body bags are most often used for the transport of human remains from their place of discovery to a funeral home
Funeral home
A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the deceased and their families. These services may include aprepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral....
or mortuary, they can also be used for temporary burials such as in a combat zone. In such situations, proper funerals are impossible because of imminent enemy attack. This was the situation during the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
of 1982, during which British dead were placed in gray plastic bodybags and then laid in mass graves. Some months after the conflict ended, all remains were exhumed from their temporary graves to receive a conventional funeral service with full military honors.
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.
With the addition of provision for breathing, specially adapted body bags are also used for the BDSM
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
practice of mummification
Mummification (BDSM)
Mummification as a BDSM bondage practice involves restraining a living person's body in a non-damaging way by wrapping it head to toe, or neck to toe, in materials like saran wrap, clingfilm, cloth, bandages, rubber strips, duct tape, plaster bandages, bodybags, or straitjackets. The end result is...
.
External links
- Even body bags need to be hawked—Wisconsin State JournalWisconsin State JournalThe Wisconsin State Journal is a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin...