Here’s another work opportunity, transporting cadavers for educational use.

We did quite a few removals that went to Stanford, and that was through a funeral home that had the contract with Stanford. They always went directly to refrigeration, and then were processed later with fluids to make them last forever.

Every once in a while, we’d go back and pick up a couple boxes of parts, sometimes the whole person, for cremation. Stanford paid for it all. Their only stipulation was that the patient have no communicable disease like Hepatitis, AIDs or Tuberculosis, and that had to be certified by the doctor signing the death certificate.

Just about every state has a program like this, find out who they’re contracted with, and make that funeral home an offer. Many times, because the family is getting free disposition of the remains, they aren’t so formal as when a regular funeral home comes, so it’s a good opportunity to learn and learn from any mistakes.

Too many cadavers? Indiana considers sharing

By DOROTHY SCHNEIDER • dschneider@jconline.com • April 9, 2009

While it’s not often publicized, a program that allows Hoosiers to donate their bodies to science after their death has been gaining participants in recent years.
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The Indiana Anatomical Education Board, run by the Indiana University Medical School, registers donors and then arranges for the cadavers to be used for medical student training across the state, including at Purdue University.

The program has been getting roughly 225 donors in each of the past couple of years, which is an increase from the 150 it averaged years earlier, said Dr. David Burr, chairman of the Anatomical Education Board.

Now Indiana wants to share the extra cadavers it has available with medical school programs in other states. And a measure being considered by the legislature this spring would allow the state’s program to do so.

“There are states that have serious shortages,” Burr said. “Indiana doesn’t have a shortage right now so we want to help other states.”

Burr pointed to New York as one state with many medical programs but not enough cadavers to meet the needs in classrooms.

If Senate Bill 218 is approved, the Indiana program will be allowed to send cadavers it doesn’t need to other states.

Those bodies would then be returned after use, as all in-state bodies are, and cremated. The remains are then either returned to the families or buried in a communal site in Indianapolis.

The increase in donations may be due to a change in the program policy a few years ago that no longer requires the bodies to go first to a funeral home to be embalmed, Burr said.

“The advantage to them is there are no charges for them if they donate directly,” he explained. “Otherwise the funeral home would charge (families) for embalming fees, transport and other things.”

Medical programs utilize the cadavers for training doctors, dentists and even physical therapists. Students at the IU medical school on Purdue’s campus use cadavers in both undergraduate and graduate coursework.

“I look at it as crucial education,” said Jim Walker, a professor of anatomy in Purdue’s Basic Medical Sciences program. “They’re going to be working on human beings, so they should be practicing on them.”

Some schools have turned to computer simulations or alternate programs to substitute for dissection in the classroom, but Walker said there’s no real good substitution.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that students who do dissection are far better,” he said.

Gordon Coppoc, director and assistant dean of the IU School of Medicine-Lafayette, said working on a human cadaver is a right of passage for medical students.

“We treat the cadaver with tremendous respect,” he said. “We make sure the students understand these people have donated their bodies to further education.”

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So it appears that it’s true that the funeral industry can thrive even in hard economic times, in all places, in China!

Now, what about here in America?

My experience is that American Funeral Homes may have to raise their prices even in a down economy, just because of the raise in prices for facilities and supplies.

What has it been like for you as a Funeral Director?

How about the Mortuary Transport Service industry?

How has the economy effected your business?

Morticians blamed for making too much profit from funeral industry

www.chinaview.cn 2009-04-03 21:49:36

BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) — A close look at the country’s funeral industry at the eve of Qingming, a traditional festival for mourning, reveals expensive funerals, graves and other costly services for the dead, which need stricter regulations, according to social affairs official Friday.

Since 2003, the funeral service industry was selected as one of the “ten most lucrative industries” by Chinese netizens for three years in a row, according to Shanghai-based Oriental Radio Station.

A worker with the Tongzhou Funeral House of Beijing told Xinhua that private mortuaries and illegal hearses take the largest share of the industry’s profits.

Mortuaries affiliated with hospitals can provide a variety of services, he said.

The mortuary of the First Hospital affiliated to Peking University charges 300 yuan (43 U.S. dollars) for cleaning the body, 100 yuan for cutting toenails, 50 yuan for cutting fingernails, 150 yuan for dressing the body, and 600 yuan for holding a visitation. Grave clothes at a cost of less than 50 yuan could sell at more than 1000 yuan here.

But according to the charging regulations issued by Beijing civil administrative department, the maximum charge for holding a visitation should range from 50 yuan to 600 yuan. Dressing the bodies should cost 100 yuan.

“Most mortuaries are contracted to private owners, and they usually contact unregistered hearse drivers to transport the bodies. These businesses take a great share of customers and charge at an unreasonably high price,” the worker said.

Objects used for funerals are also being sold at prices much higher than their costs.

According to the proposal submitted by Wu Gang, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and deputy director of Chongqing municipal development and reform commission, an 100 yuan-cremains box could cost more than 4000 yuan, and a gravesite may cost tens of and even hundreds of thousands yuan.

Luo Zhongli, a member of the National People’s Congress, China’s parliament, said: “graves are more expensive than houses, and the profit made from developing cemeteries far exceeds that of the real estate industry,”

The current practice is that private investors would buy lands from local village committees or civil administrative departments, at the price of less than 200,000 yuan per mu (0.06 hectare), on which 350 gravesites could be built. If each gravesite sells at 10,000 yuan (1,429 U.S. dollars), the total sales of the gravesites on one mu would reach 3.5 million yuan. Since cemeteries are exempt from business taxes, the developers could secure a profit rate of almost 400 percent, said Luo.

With the great financial prospect, the funeral industry has increased its popularity among job seekers.

On March 21, the Shanghai Funeral Service Center held its first job fair for university students. More than 5000 graduates competed for about 400 jobs.

“We have recruited several college students in recent years and a few quit afterwards. This proves how charming the industry is. Students can make full use of what they have learned,” Wang Hongjie, director of the Shanghai Funeral Service Center, said on its official Web site.

Despite the unfolding financial crisis, the Shanghai Funeral Service Center offered salaries ranging from 3000 to 15,000 yuan per month to its new employees.

Among the many jobs offered by funeral houses, the position of body dressers is one of the most talked-about ones in the media.

But the worker with the Tongzhou Funeral House told Xinhua that few college graduates apply for jobs in funeral houses, and all the publicity about body dressers is only media hype. With appropriate payment, it is only an ordinary job which most people still dread.

In response to the talk about “profiteering” in the funeral industry, Li Quan of the Social Affairs Department of the Civil Administrative Ministry said that the prices of various funeral objects and services should be set strictly according to related regulations and standards during the upcoming Qingming Festival, which falls on April 4 this year.

“Charges for all service items and commodities should be clearly marked. No price jacking is allowed,” the official said.

Also, the first municipal cemetery for public interest in Beijing, the Changqingyuan Ash Deposit and Cemetery, is put into use and open to public booking today.

The cemetery is free for those eligible for the minimum living standard security system and the key special-care recipients. For other citizens, each ash case is charged for 3000 yuan (428.6 U.S. dollars), with the municipal financial department subsidizing 1000yuan for them.

Also known as All Souls Day or Tomb Sweeping Day in English, Qingming is a Chinese lunar festival to remember the dead and honor ancestors by sweeping their graves and offering sacrifices.

“People are still buying flowers, food and incense for their ancestors.

There has been little sign of cutting back spending on sacrifices, despite the financial crisis, although more and more people come here by public transportation instead of private cars,” a worker with the Phoenix Mountain Memorial Park in Changping district, Beijing, told Xinhua on Friday.

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Here’s another reason, as if you need one, to be ultra careful with your paperwork.  Be religious about maintaining your paperwork, and ‘fess up if you lose it. It can always be redone, and even if you lose a customer, hopefully you’ll stay out of jail!

This guy had to put his apology on a billboard, with his name at the bottom, and he’ll never work in the funeral industry again.

Word to the wise.

Man Who Hid Bodies in Van Apologizes on Billboard

The former owner of a mortuary transport company who hid three bodies for more than five years has apologized on a highway billboard that begins: “I should treat the deceased in my care with dignity and respect.”

Donald Short, 44, of Hurst, was arrested in 2005 when the bodies were found after his abandoned van was repossessed.

“Donald Short has not apologized to me,” said Cheryle Jacobs, of Arlington.

Jacobs said she thought her father, Thomas Shadowens, was cremated after he died at age 89 in 2000. She believed she had his ashes in an urn on her mantle.

Shadowens was one of the first black real estate agents in Fort Worth.

Jacobs said she was shocked when police notified her five years later that his body had been found in the van.

Short was later convicted of abusing a corpse, a misdemeanor.

“When we were in court, his expression was deadpan,” Jacobs said. “He looked straight ahead. There was no emotion.”

Short said he lost the paperwork when he transferred the bodies in 2000 and did not know what to do, so he left the bodies in a refrigerator at a funeral home.

His contract with the funeral home was canceled years later, and he then left the bodies in his van for five months.

The tow truck driver who repossessed the van found the bodies in the back.

As part of Short’s sentencing, the judge ordered him to reimburse the families the cost of the cremations that never took place and make a public apology.

The billboard, at Highway 121 and Beach Street, reads: “I should treat the deceased in my care with dignity and respect. I utterly failed them, their families and the community. I am remorseful and I apologize.”

It is signed “Donald Short.”

Jacobs said the wording is clear, but that she doubts the apology is sincere because it was court-ordered.

She said the message had to be approved by prosecutors and the judge.

As for what was actually in her father’s urn, tests by the medical examiner showed it was “dirt and leaves,” Jacobs said.

She now has her father’s actual ashes, she said.

“At this point, after all the time that has elapsed and the emotional rollercoaster that has gone on and on and on, it’s time for closure,” Jacobs said.

Short was sentenced to probation, but Tarrant County jail records show he was jailed on Dec. 20.

Hugo Martinez, the Tarrant County assistant district attorney who handled the case, was not available for comment Monday. Another prosecutor who works with Martinez could not explain why Short was jailed but said he apparently violated terms of his parole.

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Here’s an outfit in Florida

looking for an affordable walk-in cooler. We offer several lines of walk-in coolers from highest quality to entry level equipment. We have over 20years experience in commercial industrial walk in settings. Looking to buy a cooler or freezer for a school, preschool or daycare? Give us a call. We can also outfit hotels, motels, catering, food service, restaurant, bar, mortuaries & funeral homes. We also do floral coolers.

One Fat Frog Restaurant Equipment- we ship anywhere

(407) 936-FROG

We know what it’s like to do business with a big company. So we promise you little company service with big company value. Value, Integrity. Honesty and a company name that you can trust while laughing at our logo. If ya don’t like to smile, don’t shop here as we love to joke around!

Promises- no mortuary jokes

That’s too bad, I was hoping for some mortuary jokes…

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MORTUARY TRANSPORT SERVICE
Attn: Dana Hall or Laurie Blotkamp
Not Disclosed, AZ, USA Listing #: 33145807
Print this Listing
Contact Business Seller

Asking Price: $270,000 USD USA Dollars
Business for Sale Industry: Services: Travel, Transportation
Reason for Selling: Another business venture
Year Established: 1993
# of Employees: 8 plus one owner
Yearly Revenues: $165,011
Yearly Cash Flow: $60,000

Business for Sale Overview:

This mortuary transport service has established an excellent reputation within the community based upon the highest level of professional and consistent service provided.

Property Features and Assets:

The sale of this business will include three vans for transport.

Market Competition and Expansion:

Reputation is everything in this industry and after 15 years this business has built an outstanding reputation for being consistently professional in all aspects of the services provided.

Additional Details:

* The property is owned.
* The owner is willing to train/assist the new owner.
* The owner is not willing to work for the new owner.
* This is a homebased business opportunity.
* This is not a franchise resale opportunity.
* This is not a distressed business or bankruptcy situation.

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San Mateo County Coroner’s Office

Request for Interest

BODY REMOVAL SERVICES

San Mateo County Coroner’s Office is conducting a survey to determine whether companies are interested in contracting to provide Body Removal Services for the San Mateo County Coroner’s Office.  Interested applicants should be able to start providing body removal services for the Coroner’s Office beginning January 1, 2009.  

If sufficient interest is demonstrated, a selection process will be commenced.  The contractor submitting the successful proposal may be awarded a contract for the time period January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2011 with a possible extension of up to two additional years.

Please note the following information concerning the removal services:

a. Removal of remains from location of death or other places as designated by the County in a professional manner with due consideration given towards the family and friends of the deceased present at the time of removal.

b. The deceased shall be transported to the County Morgue at San Mateo County General Hospital, 222 West 39th Avenue, San Mateo, California, or to other locations within the County as directed by the Coroner or his delegate.

c. The contractor/vendor shall provide and maintain a minimum of two (2) removal vehicles in good operating order. 

If you would be interested in submitting a proposal, please let us know by 5:00 PM October 10, 2008. Please send us a letter on company letterhead containing your statement of interest so that we can send you a copy of the Request for Proposals after it is issued. Your letter should also provide the following:

1.  Name, Agency, Address, Telephone number, Fax number, and Email address.

Statements of interest should be submitted to:

Robert J. Foucrault, Coroner

San Mateo County Coroner’s Office

50 Tower Road

San Mateo, CA 94402

Deadline: 5:00 PM October 10, 2008

If you have any further questions, please contact Jerry Cohn, Chief Deputy Coroner at 650/312-5295.

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Here’s the first poll on my site.

I’m curious if anyone is tracking what days they get the most and least calls for mortuary transportation or other funeral related calls.

Perhaps you wonder why this information is important to track?

If you have one day that is statistically slower than others, this information can make your decisions a lot easier about staffing, special offers and time management for perhaps more important things like family, leisure time, etc.

Do you agree?

This poll is open to everybody.

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One of the projects I put together was some graphics for condolence cards.

They would have a nice graphic on the front, with either a hand written note or hand written font printing the Funeral Home name on the inside with an appropriate sentiment.

These would then be left with the family at a house call or with the family they were present at a medical facility.

I didn’t follow through with this project because there didn’t seem to be a lot of interest at the time.

I’m offering these seven graphics zipped in a file for free download to use for your funeral service, whether you’re a transportation agency or a funeral home/cemetery. The text is the same on all the graphics, the background is different to provide some variety.

The actual size of each graphic is 1350 x 675 pixels, which when printed at 300 dpi will be 4.5 x 2.5 inches, which will center fine on an A2 size card, which you can get at any office supply store. An A2 card is the same size as a quarter of an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper.

You can download these graphics here. They are zipped and the file size is 2.92 MB.

Let me know what you think in the comments section.

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Here’s another craigslist ad for transport positions in Denver.

Let me know if you want me to post your help wanted ad, and I’ll link to your site if you have one, or build a site for you if you need one. I got a few jobs by people finding me on the web.

Mortuary Transport (Denver Metro)

Reply to: dtfeir@yahoo.com
Date: 2008-08-08, 5:13PM MDT

Mortuary service looking for a clean cut, well mannered individual for a full time, on call position. We transport the deceased from the place of passing to funeral homes. This is a ‘hands on’ position. We provide the vehicle, fuel, equipment, training, etc. Please email your resume to David and if it appears you will be a good fit, we will contact you.   
Location: Denver Metro
Compensation: $24,000+
Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

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Here’s a story about a man who was carried to the morgue en masse with a bunch of other dead bodies, and woke up thirsty.

I was sometimes worried that something like this would happen to me, a body not really being dead when I picked it up and transported it. One of the funeral homes we worked for required some nasty smelling aerosol spray to be applied to the face of the decedent before putting them in the cooler. It was meant to keep the tissues from drying out, etc. I always figured that if someone was faking their death, that stuff would make them move for sure, or kill them.

Early on when I first started mortuary transport, I heard a story from a nurse about something like that happening at a convelescent hospital she worked at about 20 years earlier.

This guy came to pick up a “Mr. Jones” who was sharing a room with his brother, also a “Mr. Jones”. The nurse was getting ready to escort the funeral person to the body when an emergency happened where someone fell and cut their head. The funeral person went about his business, wrapped and loaded the body, and was down the road when the body supposedly moved then sat up. The driver pulled over, got out and ran, abandoning the vehicle.

A few minutes later, highway patrol calls the nurse saying he found their missing patient. Of course, the driver took the wrong body!

What story do you have? Go ahead and share in the comment section.

‘Dead’ Man Awakens Before Autopsy, Shocks Doctors by Asking for Glass of Water

An Indian man who was knocked unconscious during a stampede of thousands of religious pilgrims on a steep Himalayan mountain path woke up as doctors were preparing to perform his autopsy, the Times of India reported.

Mange Ram, 19, lost consciousness in the stampede that killed 150 people and was triggered by rumors of a landslide leading to a Hindu temple devoted to the goddess Naina Devi.

Ram awoke in the hospital morgue Sunday in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

“When I woke up, I was in the middle of a row of bodies waiting for post mortem,” he told the Times. “My throat was parched and I asked for water. Towering over me the doctors and nursing staff at Anandpur Sahib Civil Hospital looked dazed. They must have been surprised to see a dead man come alive like that.”

Sat Pal Aggarwal, a doctor on the pilgrimage, said little was done to see if victims of the stampede were still alive.

“People were dumped quite haphazardly into trucks without following any procedure or checking if they were alive,” he told the Times.

Despite the huge loss of life, the pilgrimage continued only hours after the corpses had been cleared, according to the newspaper.

Click here to read more on this story from the Times of India.

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