Dispatcher/Mortuary Assistant

The Office of the Chief Coroner, and the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service (OCC/OFPS) seeks 2 professionals to provide coroner dispatch and morgue attendance duties. As an integral team member you will work on rotating shifts 24/7, and statutory holidays as required.

What can I expect to do in this role?

In this role, you will:
•receive and appropriately direct requests received from across the province for services to on-call Coroners and Forensic Pathologists located across the province by following standard procedures, directives and guidelines
•receive bodies/remains to the morgue for storage, post mortem examination and identification by weighing the body/remains, and assigning appropriate storage and storing body/remains
•advise and release bodies to individual/agency legally entitled and ensure paper work is in order for both incoming and outgoing bodies/remains and post mortem warrants
•maintain continuity of evidence and ensure appropriate handling procedures, etc
•deal with inquiries, interact with investigators, medical professionals and the public and route media enquiries to appropriate management staff, dealing with next-of-kin regarding body identification, releasing of body/remains for disposition or funeral services, and providing various information (e.g., obtaining Medical Certificates of Death)
•receive and deal appropriately with after-hours calls including forwarding calls if required to Regional Supervising Coroner and after hours on-call staff

How do I qualify?

Mandatory

You must be able to work in rotating shifts 24/7 and during statutory holidays as required.

Technical knowledge and skills:

•demonstrated knowledge of procedures for handling bodies/evidence (e.g. continuity of evidence, health and safety, universal precautions) and ability to assess incoming/outgoing body/remains and determine required action
•ability to acquire and apply statutes, legislation, program directives, guidelines, policies and procedures with respect to Coroners' death investigation (e.g., Coroners Act, Anatomy Act, Trillium Gift of Life Act, etc.) to provide information and reference which deaths are reported to a Coroner
•knowledge of computer data base systems such as the information management system and other applicable software to enter and retrieve information (e.g. MS Outlook, MS Word)
•knowledge of medical terminology to liaise with medical professionals and others regarding nature manner/cause of death and circumstances

Other skills:

You have experience and ability to work with:
• frequent exposure to, handling of, and contact with bodies/remains that may be contaminated, decomposed, mutilated, and/or arthropod infested
•frequent exposure to putrid odours
•the exposure to potentially infectious viruses, bacteria, infectious diseases (e.g. AIDS, tuberculosis, hepatitis, etc.)

Reasoning, analytical and problem solving skills:

•ability to identify priorities and matters requiring the Chief Coroner's or Chief Forensic Pathologist's attention
•ability to review relevant documents (e.g. warrants, police sudden death reports/ occurrence reports, faxes, morgue death records, funeral home releases, subpoenas, etc.) provided and coordinate pertinent paper flow within the branch
•ability to determine the nature of calls received from organizations outside and make decisions concerning the permissibility or confidentiality of information requested
•ability to compile, report and analyse data and statistics in response to requests from Coroners (e.g., number of calls on a specific case)
•ability to deal regularly with grieving individuals where there is a potential for extreme behaviour

Oral communication, tact and interpersonal skills:

•ability to respond promptly and professionally to regular and after-hours inquiries from a range of contacts to ensure evidence is maintained and investigations are conducted in an efficient and timely manner
•possess patience, empathy and tact in order to effectively communicate with bereaved individuals and next-of-kin immediately following a death in order to provide information, explain procedures related to the OCC/OFPS and to answer questions

NOTE: These positions will be relocating to the Provincial Downsview Complex located at 1201 Wilson Ave in fall 2013.

All external applicants (including former employees of the Ontario Public Service) applying to a competition in a ministry or Commission public body must disclose (either in the cover letter or resume) previous employment with the Ontario Public Service. Disclosure must include positions held, dates of employment and any active restrictions as applicable from being rehired by the Ontario Public Service. Active restrictions can include time and/or ministry-specific restrictions currently in force, and may preclude a former employee from being offered a position with the Ontario Public Service for a specific time period (e.g. one year), or from being offered a position with a specific ministry (either for a pre-determined time period or indefinitely). The circumstances around an employee's exit will be considered prior to an offer of employment.

Remember: The deadline to apply is Wednesday, January 9, 2013 11:59 pm EST. Late applications will not be accepted.

We thank you for your interest. Only those selected for further screening or an interview will be contacted.