Embalming History, Theory, and Practice - Chapter 1 (SPCollege 2016)

Medical Examiner or Coroner must be notified

1. Accidental deaths: All forms including death arising from employment, 2. Homicidal Deaths; including those involving child abuse, 3. Suicidal Deaths, 4. Abortions - criminal or self induced; When the manner of death falls within the above classifications, such death must be reported to the coroner even though the survival period subsequent to onset is 12 months, 5. Sudden Deaths; when in apparent good health or in any suspicious or unusual manner

Containers for shipping

1. Air-tray 2. Combination case or combo unit 3. Ziegler case (metal body transfer shipping case) Excellent for disinterment's, overseas shipping and as a holding vault - 20 gauge steel construction these must be accompanied by Burial Transit Permit

Four Divisions of OSHA

1. The general rule 2. The hazard communication standard 3. The Formaldehyde Rule 4. The Bloodborne Pathogen Rule.

Care of the Dead - Egypt

Ancient Egypt , circa 3000 BCE

Homo sapiens neanderthalensis

Anthropological study shows that the burial of the human body is the oldest of all religious customs, and was practiced as far back as about 60,000 BC

Failure to act in an ethical way

Any licensee being accused by the observer, chastised by the licensing board and agency, and disciplined as a signal to others that unprofessional behavior is intolerable in funeral service. Embalming failures, for whatever reason, are injurious to the health and welfare of the public, create anguish for families, and unfairly expose the profession as a whole to criticism.

The Funeral Rule

April 1984, the federal government, through the FTC, promulgated a rule governing the activities of funeral directors and embalmers. This rule was amended in 1994 by the FTC

Human relationships - attachments

Are not limitless, they too must die, either thru physical or psychological separation or through death.

Western Culture - Attitude Towards Death

Attitude of denial in the western culture and defiance towards death and dying. Shallow culture - death - precisely is what the culture is trying to avoid. Americans put tremendous value on things that are new, shiny and healthy while devaluing old, dull, and dead. The living are simultaneously attracted, yet sometimes repulsed, when viewing the dead. The dead represent defeat and despair which human beings do not do well with.

Bodies in Motion and at Rest - Book

Author, Poet, and Funeral Director - Thomas Lynch

Minimum Care Authorization when Embalming is Declined Form

Authorizes minimum care of the body. It provides a detailed description of "minimum care" that can be performed.

Authorization for minimum Care Services Form

Authorizes minimum care when embalming is not requested. It gives the funeral facility permission to perform certain task to prepare the body for identification, viewing, or immediate cremation.

Anthropological studies of the dead

Burial of the human body is the oldest of all religious customs and was practiced as far back as about 60,000 BC

Funeral Service Practitioners

Charged with the maintenance of this moral and ethical responsibility, and it is important that students and practitioners actively embrace this concept.

Defamation of others

Comments by one embalmer concerning another funeral director should always be selected with care. harming another person by nonfactual statements or overplay of facts should be avoided at all times.

Ancient Egyptians - Death Belief

Did not regard death as the end of life, but as an intermediary stage towards a better eternal life. Eternity was achieved by those who had lived a virtuous life and were able to furnish their tombs and receive funerary offerings from their relatives.

Embalming and viewing of the body in America

During the second half of the nineteenth century and most of the twentieth century. was vital part of the American funeral.

The Funeral - Misrepresentations (Federal Register)

EMBALMING PROVISIONS - DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRACTICES. In selling or offering to sell funeral goods or funeral services to the public, it is a deceptive act or practice for a funeral provider to: 1. Represent that state or local law requires that a deceased person be embalmed, when such is not the case 2. Fail to disclose that embalming is not required by law, except in certain special cases

Reporting of any suspicious circumstance surrounding a death

Embalmer is responsible in reporting to the coroner or medical examiner. It is important that the funeral personnel in charge of arrangements ascertain who will sign the certificate of death if the nature of the death is such that the coroner or medical examiner must be notified to investigate.

Embalmers - Judicious Counsel

Embalmers must give professional obligation to judicious counsel. Whenever the service is made challenging, because of the circumstances of death, the embalmer should communicate realistic expectations to the family directly or through the arranging funeral director. Representations concerning embalming and restoration should be full and factual. Misrepresentations are unethical and unprofessional and should be avoided at all times.

Accommodation of the family

Embalmers should attempt to accommodate families to view the remains with set features in the preparation room. Family's right to check the embalmers performance.

Misrepresentation - unlicensed embalming

Embalmers should never aid or abet an unlicensed person who attempts to represent himself or herself as a licensed embalmer or to engage in practices reserved to the holder of an embalming license, when licensure is required to engage in such activities or to represent oneself as a licensed embalmer.

Why do we Embalm?

Embalming slows decomposition and thus affords the bereaved the time to make important decisions. It also serves the practical purpose of rendering the body inoffensive and making it presentable for viewing. The embalmed body affords the aggrieved the opportunity to accept the finality of death, and does so in discreet and professional manner. Embalming also serves as a practical need when the body must be transported to another location, offering extended time for transport and assurance that the body will remain intact while arrangements are made and during final transportation.

Ethics - Ethical Practice

Ethics is the science of rectitude and duty. Its subject is morality and its sphere is virtuous conduct. Ethics is a set of principles that governs conduct for the purpose of establishing harmony in all human relationships. Ethics is fair play.

Universal Convictions - World Cultures all attend to their dead

Every civilization ever studied has been found to maintain sacred locations where the bodies and the relics of the dead where placed, including cemeteries, mausoleums, and columbaria. All cultures commemorate their dead through the creation of art, music, and literature. These practices are diverse and widespread.

Funeral - Religious Conviction

For centuries the funeral has been essentially religious ritual, is certainly so within the Judeo-Christian tradition, and is so within all world religions.

Removal - Handling the Remains of the deceased Human body

Funeral practitioners are charged with the task of removing the body from the place of death and ensuring that in the moving process the body receives the respect and care. The remains should be protected by a wrap or appropriate covering that maintains the modesty of the deceased person. The remains should be handled as if the body were dead from a communicable disease. Universal precautions should always be followed by those making the removal.

Bible reference to embalming made twice in the Old Testament

Genesis 50:2-3 recounts death of Jacob and Genesis 50:26 Joseph died at 110 years old and was embalmed and put in a coffin in Egypt.

Green Funeral Release and Indemnification Form

Gives direction for disposition of the dead human body when a green burial (natural burial) is requested.

Authorization for Restorative and Cosmetic Care Form

Gives necessary permission when extensive or operative restoration work may be necessary in the preparation of the body.

Form of death denial

I would rather remember them alive is a form of this

Imprinted (attachment)

Imprinting is caused by constant exposure to the attached person.

Embalmer Ethics - Licensed Embalmers

In the United States, where Judeo-Christian tradition has fostered respect for the human dead and considerations of public health require protection of the living against infection or contagion, the preparation of the dead human bodies is entrusted to a specialized group called licensed embalmers

Treating the dead with respect and great reverence

Is an age old custom, as old as humanity itself.

Viewing and touching a dead body

Is the best way for the bereaved to overcome and death denial feelings.

Authorization to Prepare Donation Cases for Viewing Form

Is used when a funeral facility prepares a body where organs and/or tissues have been donated.

Process of mourning

Is vital and necessary for healthy grieving. Grieving begins in the bereaved psyche by sensory (visual and tactile) confrontation with the dead person's retained body image.

Human attachments and separations

It is crucial that the funeral service practitioner appreciates the complex processes behind these human attachments and separations. It is these psychological processes on which the ethic of reverence for the dead is based, and which necessitate the need for funeralization. Without human attachments, there would be little, if any, need for funerals.

Enticement of Another Embalmer

It is unethical for an embalmer to willfully entice the employees of another firm with purpose of unduly hampering, injuring, or prejudicing that firm or professional.

Bible reference to embalming made in the New Testament

John 11:44 - Burial preparation for Lazarus similar to those in use today, including the use of grave straps to bind the arms, feet and chin, allowing the body to be manipulated into normal appearance. also Jesus funerary preparation's mirror those used today in some cultures: his body was bound and dressed in fine white linens, and anointed with spices, fragrant oils, and myrrh.

Shandiar Cave

Northern Iraq, researchers discovered corpses adorned with elk antlers and shoulder blades. also found were pollen fragments from flowers that were used as gifts to the dead and to mask unpleasant odors during the burial ritual.

Embalming Authorization Form

Provides permission for embalming the body and indemnification of the funeral home.

Attachments - Psychosocial Model

Relationships with significant persons undergo a kind of layering process in our brains. The thoughts and feelings create perceptual patterns and recognition. Relationship is terminated through separation by death or physical or emotional distance. attachments arise from countless life experiences which are deeply cherished singular relationships with others; feelings of LOVE and we experience the joy of love. we also experience the inevitable anguish and separation and loss. Human existence is that that attachments cannot exist without grief.

Basic tenet of funeral service

Reverence for the dead is expressed through the consistent application and practice of showing respect and honor for as well maintaining the dignity of the dead

Coroner or a medical Examiner, organ and tissue procurement agencies

States regulate this group of professionals. they take actual custody of the dead human body. The also have authority over the disposition of indigent bodies, and regulate the procurement of bodies for medical school anatomical study.

Eminent British Prime Minister William Evart Gladstone

Summed up the social, moral and ethical issues of neglecting the dead for any society. Show me the manner in which a community cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender sympathies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land, and their loyalty to high ideals.

Embalming suspends time - temporary state of preservation

Temporary preservation and sanitation of the deceased body, Renders the body inoffensive by slowing post mortem changes, Seeing the body allows the family and friends to accept the finality of death, Allows time to organize ceremony and ritual with the body present, Time for friends and relatives to gather for funeral ceremonies and if desired view the deceased remains, Moving the deceased to a distant location for final disposition and if desired, viewing, Restores a favorable body image by removing the adverse effects of disease, trauma, or postmortem changes, Preservation for anatomical study and research by medical institutions, A slow breakdown of the body over time; desiccation rather than putrefaction

Two principal bodies may have control of the care and disposition dead human remains

The board of Health (Bureau of Vital Statistics) and the State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors (or similar governing body) that regulate the funeral homes and the licensing of funeral directors and embalmers. These two groups promulgate and enforce statutory law as well as rules and regulations governing the disposition of dead human bodies.

Embalming - American Board of Funeral Service Education Definition

The chemical treatment of a dead human body to reduce the presence and growth of microorganisms, to temporarily inhibit organic decomposition, and to restore the dead human body to an acceptable physical appearance.

Embalmer - Continuing Education

The embalmer has a moral and ethical responsibility to assure that he or she receives whatever continuing education is necessary to maintain skills commensurate with professional practice. State of the art practices and procedures should be known to and practiced by the embalmer at all times.

Identification - Human dead body

The embalmer has the responsibility to ascertain that he or she has a properly identified body and must manage the care and internal identification of the remains such that there can be no mistake, especially when viewing is not planned or cremation is the method of final disposition.

Identification of the Dead

The embalmer has the responsibility to ascertain that he or she has a properly identified body and must manage the care and internal identification of the remains such that there can be no mistake, especially when viewing is not planned or cremation is the method of final disposition.

Embalmer - Observing Laws, Rules and Regulations

The embalmer is duty-bound and legally responsible to ensure that he or she observes all legal and regulatory requirements of federal, state, or local government. The embalmer also has the responsibility of informing the funeral home owner of the resources or capital investments required to meet Occupational Safety and Health OSHA standards, any applicable Environmental Protection Agency EPA requirements, or other measures needed to be in compliance.

Prep Room - Health Protection and Sanitation

The embalmer is ethically responsible for protecting the health of any person allowed to enter the preparation room for any reason, and for restricting entry to any person not authorized to be there. That responsibility includes following appropriate sanitation procedures to maintain a safe working area for any individual. the embalmer is responsible for a safe sheltering so that no unauthorized person has access to the human remains in his or her care.

Donation of organs

The embalmer needs to maintain a neutral position and follow the directions of the family wishing to donate organs or tissues of a deceased family member for the benefits of others. A neutral position should also be taken when the family wishes to donate the whole deceased human body to a medical facility, another option can be offered is preparation without embalming for a viewing if desired, by the family and friends.

Embalmer and Medical Professions

The embalmer shares with all medical and hospital personnel the professional responsibility of cooperating with all groups and in supporting all measures that promote health, safety, and public welfare. Courtesy, tact, and discretion should characterize all of the embalmers professional actions.

Documentation of Deceased - Embalmer

The embalmer should deliver and document quality care of the deceased body. An embalming report needs to be completed for each deceased body brought into the preparation room or embalming facility. A record of clothing or other personal articles or valuables received by the firm would be appropriate. Written permission to embalm or a record of the expressed permission must be obtained. When embalming is not desired, permission needs to be obtained for those minimum care treatments necessary for identification of viewing the body.

Confidentiality

The family members must be able to rely on confidentiality among themselves, the funeral director, and the embalmer on all matters relating to cause and manner of death, surrounding circumstances, condition of the body, and other issues raised. The embalmer may be privy to other matters shared with him or her by the family. all such confidences must be ensured by the embalmer and funeral director.

Mummification - the development (3000 BCE)

The poor attained immortality through the mercy of the gods. Released after death, the spiritual elements continued to exist so long as the body remained in a recognizable state.

Federal agencies regulate activities of the funeral home establishment and the preparation room

These agencies include: Center for Disease Control (CDC), (EPA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and OSHA

Decedent Care Report Form

This form MUST be completed for EACH deceased human body brought into a funeral or an embalming facility. A copy of the report MUST accompany the body being shipped or transported to another funeral facility.

People Need Time - Funeralization

To fully implement the ethical, psychological, and sociological values of funeralization.

Best way to overcome death denial

Viewing and touching a dead human body is the best way for the bereaved to overcome any death denial feelings. Process of denial takes on many forms.

Famous Quote by Thomas Lynch

When someone dies, it is not them we fear seeing, it is them dead. It is the death. We fear that seeing will be believing.

Without a body - Bereavement

Without a body an essential element to the grieving process is missing; an important piece of the bereavement puzzle is missing.

Local Regulations

at the local level, the zoning board, the local board of health, the waste disposal board, and the water management board can have involvement with the funeral home or the embalming facility.

Legislative Intent - disposition of the dead

in a legal, ethical, reverent, and respectful manner. Certain standards of performance are not only expected but demanded from embalmers and funeral directors. When a state issues an embalming license. 1. Embalming is a practice affecting the public and safety and welfare and is subject to regulation and control in the public interest. 2. The preparation, care, and final disposition human body should be attended with appropriate observance and understanding. in addition to having due regard and respect for the reverent care of the human body and for those bereaved and the overall spiritual dignity of humankind. 3. As a matter of public interest, the practice of embalming merits and receives the confidence of the public in that only qualified persons be authorized to embalm in their state of practice. 4. The state codes should be liberally construed to best carry out these subjects and purposes. These declarations form a foundation for the development of specific professional performance standards.

Reverence for the dead - Supreme Ethic

is the basic ethical axiom of the funeral service profession.

Funeral Home owners - Appropriate care of the deceased

owners, even licensed ones, who fail to authorize purchase of the necessary equipment, accessories, fluids, supplies, instruments, or protective procedures do, in effect, unethically inhibit the embalmer from delivering the optimum remains for funeralization. Such negligence shows disrespect for the deceased, marginalizes the embalmers effectiveness, and fails the legislative intent test for appropriate care of the deceased.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

requires the funeral home or the embalming facility to register as an "approved shipper" if they are transporting bodies by common carrier.

Grained in human nature

reverence for the dead which goes as far back as ancestry Neanderthal humans.

Issue of Morality - reverential care

reverential care of the dead is embodied in the conflict between logic and emotion. The logical will dismiss the corpse as dead tissue and the emotional self brings in the humanity side.

Photos of the deceased

should never be taken without permission or direction of the persons in charge of arrangements. Doing so would be unprofessional and make the licensee and the owner subject to suit or discipline. If photos are taken for identification or conditions prior to and following preparation, these should become a part of the confidential files of the funeral home.

Destruction of many civilizations

was herald by a rise in the community's apathy about the care of the dead. Ancient Rome, Greece, and Nazi Germany are examples that fit this pattern. Examining downfalls, the lack of proper care for the dead was commonplace time and time again.

Purpose of Embalming by ancient Egyptians

was religious

Identification of remains of the Decedent Form

Verifies the identification of a decedent.

The American Way of Death - Book

1963, Jessica Mitford published a book that was of supreme importance for the funeral service profession. A savage and relentless attack on the profession, causing a counterattack on Mitford herself by America's funeral directors.

Organ Donation - Window of opportunity

1998 federal rules require a window of opportunity for organ procurement organizations to invite the family to consider organ or tissue donations where circumstances are appropriate for that request.

Attention Funeral Director Form

A form for bodies being shipped to another funeral facility. It describes the condition of the body at the shipping location and requests notification of any problems encountered by the receiving funeral facility. It is to be accompanied by a copy of the Decedent Care Report.

Body Image

A mental photograph that develops in our hearts and minds. it is reinforced unconsciously and consciously.

The Funeral Rule - Preventive Requirements (Federal Register)

To prevent these deceptive acts or practices as well as the unfair or deceptive acts or practices defined in 453.4(b)(1) and 453.5(2) [of the Funeral Rule], funeral providers must: 1. Not present that a deceased person is required to be embalmed for: A. Direct cremation B. Immediate burial; or C. A closed casket funeral without viewing or visitation when refrigeration is available and when state or local law does not require embalming; and 2. Place the following disclosure on the general price list, required by 453.2(b)(4) in immediate conjunction with the price shown for embalming: "Except in certain special cases, embalming is not required by law. Embalming may be necessary, however, if you select certain funeral arrangements, such as a funeral viewing. If you do not want embalming, you usually have the right to choose an arrangement that does not require you to pay for it, such as direct cremation or immediate burial. "The phrase" except in certain special cases" need not be included in this disclosure if state or local laws in the area(s) where the provider does business, do not require embalming under any circumstances.

The Funeral Rule - Preventive Requirement (Federal Register)

To prevent these unfair or deceptive acts or practices, funeral providers must include on the itemized statement of funeral goods and services selected, required by 453.2(b)(5), the statement: "If you selected a funeral that may require embalming, such as a funeral with viewing, you may have to pay for embalming. You do not have to pay for embalming you did not approve if you selected arrangements such as a direct cremation or immediate burial. If we charge for embalming, we will explain why below."

The Funeral Rule - Services Provided without prior approval (Federal Register)

UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRACTICES. In selling or offering to sell funeral goods or funeral services to the public, it is unfair or deceptive act or practice for any provider to embalm a deceased body for a fee unless: 1. State or local law or regulation requires embalming in the particular circumstances, regardless of any funeral choice which the family might make; or 2. Prior approval for embalming (expressly so described) from a family member or other authorized person, or 3. The funeral provider is unable to contact a family member or other authorized person after execising due diligence, has no reason to belive the family does not want embalming performed, and obtains subsequent approval for embalming already performed (expressly so described). In seeking approval, the funeral provider must disclose that a fee will be charged if the family selects a funeral which requires embalming, such as a funeral with viewing, and that no fee will be charged if the family selects a service which does not require embalming, such as direct cremation or immediate burial.

Viewing when NOT advised against by the Funeral Home Forms

Used when the Funeral Home advises against viewing the body.