By Megan Fraser
It was around 7 p.m. Monday when middler athletic training major Kyle Butler and his classmates arrived for their lab in the Behrakis Health Science Center. At the door, they were greeted by members of the Northeastern Police Department who moved the class to another room.
Associate Director of Athletic Training Chad Kraweic explained the confusion to students in his Gross Anatomy for the Lower Extremity lab.
“One of the motors that cools the cadavers broke down,” Butler said he was told.
Kraweic said when he arrived to facilitate the lab, “the alarm for the refrigeration unit was going off.”
When the temperature drops below a certain point, the alarm is activated, though Kraweic was not sure as to when the cooler broke down exactly.
“We called campus police because it was late, and public health wasn’t a concern,” Kra-weic said.
The only real concern Kraweic said he had was “if the cadavers are not refrigerated, they dry out really easily and the smell can be overwhelming.”
After notifying campus police, Kraweic contacted facility services to get the problem fixed.
Associate Director of Public Safety James Ferrier said after the temperature alarm had gone off Monday night, physical plant technicians had worked on fixing the problem, but the alarm had gone off again Tuesday afternoon.
Vice President for Facilities Dan Bourque said although he was not aware of the specific incident, he believed technicians were working on fixing the problem.
Bourque said the incident was not unusual and the university has multiple temperature alarms throughout sensitive areas on campus.
Kraweic and Facility Services were unable to say exactly how long the cadavers were left without the air conditioning. Time was sufficient enough, however, to allow them to warm to slightly higher than room temperature.
The department did not have to dispose of the cadavers; they were left in the lab’s refrigerator again once the problem was fixed.
Butler said because the cadavers were kept wet, they were still usable.
“[You] spray the bodies down to keep them moist. They’re no good if they dry out,” Butler said.
Because of the malfunction, Butler’s class was rescheduled until Tuesday of next week.
