Like caskets, no one ever wants to talk about body bags so they rarely have innovations. Forensic researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are looking to change that. They recently proposed a new body bag concept that replaces bag for stackable plastic trays.
A plastic liner seals around the outer edges of the tray, while pneumatic ports can either remove oxygen or pump in inert gases. This allows the delay of putting the body on ice for three to five days. Gloves are built in to the polymer liner so people can move the dead without needing to break the seal. Containment pouches can be moulded into the liner to hold blood and tissue samples. The tray itself is made from a low density polymer, which can float in water if recovery happens within a flooded region (think: Katrina).
[via New Scientist]
