#embalmer — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #embalmer, aggregated by home.social.
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#WordyWednesday: Bleb
(used in a mortuary context)
A blister on a dead body, filled with stinky liquid, which usually turns into an area of skin slip (moist peeling skin) after it's been drained. Not fun at all.
#HisAndHearsePress #Embalming #Embalmer #DeadBody #MortuaryScience #Bleb #Blister #Gross #Ew #Stinky #Vocabulary #WordOfTheDay
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#WordyWednesday: Gravity Embalming
An old-timey method of embalming that predates electricity but can still be used in a pinch today.
A large glass jar is suspended over the body with a hose leading to a large artery. Embalming fluid flows into the body at a very slow and steady rate.
Raising the height of the jar increases the pressure (approximately 0.43 pounds of pressure per foot of height above the injection site).
#HisAndHearsePress #Embalming #MortuaryScience #MortuarySchool #Embalmer #Undertaker #Mortician #FuneralDirector #Gravity
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#WordyWednesday: Shrouding Women
When you think of morticians, you might conjure images of creepy old men in black suits. But did you know that they've only been "in charge" of the dead for the last century or so? Before that, men were typically responsible for building coffins and digging graves. Body preparation fell to the women!
Women were already tasked with nursing the sick, distributing herbs, and aiding in childbirth, so bathing and dressing the dead was a natural progression. Since it was a duty that demanded care, gentleness, and propriety, men were simply unsuited to the task. Enter the shrouding women.
Many neighborhood women became skilled and knowledgeable in the art of preparing the dead. They understood the weather's effect on decomposition and how to tend to bodies suffering from various conditions. They lent their expertise to those in need, not for monetary compensation but as an act of community.
Duties included preparing a cooling board (sometimes an ironing board or barn door placed over chairs), washing and dressing the corpse, closing the eyes and mouth (coins on eyes and jaws secured shut with tied rags or forked sticks propped against the breast bone), and otherwise arranging the body into a restful pose.
Commercialization of death care after the Civil War led cabinetmakers to evolve from coffin builders to embalmers. They wrested control of bodies away from women, claiming women were weak, delicate, and unable to tolerate the sight of blood. As the men rose into the ranks of professionals, women were relegated to the sidelines of death care. They became decorations. Trade journal advertisements portrayed men doing funeral work and women as objects of beauty. The foundation was laid for men to dominate the industry for the next 100 years.
Fortunately, we've come full circle and women are entering funeral service in droves. Over 70% of graduating mortuary science classes are women. Turns out we *can* handle some blood after all.
#HisAndHearsePress #InternationalWomensDay #WomensDay #WomenInSTEM #WomenSupportingWomen #DeathCare #FuneralService #MortuaryScience #MortuarySchool #DeathPositive #FuneralDirector #Embalmer #Mortician #Undertaker
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CW: What Happens to Dead Bodies with Catheters, Ostomies, Casts, & Halos?
#FuneralFactFriday: Catheters, Ostomies, Casts, & Halos
(yes, I'm continuing the "cat" theme, don't @ me)All kinds of people die, in all kinds of conditions. Some die mid-repair. Hospitals provide treatment with the assumption their patient will live. If the patient dies anyways, the body can be left with remnants of the treatments. This leads to surprises for embalmers when we open the body bags.
We see common things like tracheostomies, breathing tubes, IVs, colostomies, surgical staples, pacemakers, and urinary catheters (which are all easily removed) and unusual things like halo braces (which have pins that are attached to the skull), surgical drains that end in grenade-like bulb reservoirs, orthopedic casts, and intraosseous IVs (a brutal looking needle that gets jammed into the bone marrow through the shin bone).
We don't have the specialized tools that hospitals use to remove some of these, so we basically figure it out on our own. Once the medical devices are removed and disposed of, we fix the resulting holes or incisions. First we treat them with chemicals, almost cauterizing them. We can fill them with absorbent preservative powders and cotton, then suture them closed. A layer of sealer can be applied on top, and if there's still a risk of leakage, we can supplement with Saran wrap or plastic garments concealed beneath the clothing.
#HisAndHearsePress #Embalming #Embalmer #MortuaryScience #MortuarySchool #MedicalInterventions #Death #Funeral
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#FuneralFactFriday: I missed posting this yesterday because, uhhh newborn kittens, obvs. However, today is National Battery Day, which brings me to this lesson: pacemaker batteries explode it cremated!
Pacemakers must be removed from bodies prior to cremation because their batteries will explode (damaging the chamber and/or injuring the operator).
Pacemakers are easily removed by funeral staff and can be recycled, refurbished, and sanitized. Since the FDA prohibits reuse in the USA, they can either be implanted in dogs or sent to impoverished countries.
#HisAndHearsePress #Funeral #Cremation #Pacemaker #Defibrillator #NationalBatteryDay #Embalmer #Mortician #MortuaryScience
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#WordyWednesday: Viscerock
Not all embalming chemicals are liquid! Formaldehyde and other accessory chemicals come in powders and gels too.
My favorite is a product with the awesome name "Viscerock," which dries, firms, and preserves tissue (especially in autopsied cases).
It's also the name of my future death metal band 🤘🏻
#HisAndHearsePress #Embalming #MortuaryScience #MortuarySchool #Embalmer #Formaldehyde #FormaldehydeFree #Viscerock #DodgeChemicalCompany #ThanksThatsMyBandNameNow
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CW: Explanation of mouth formers (embalming supplies)
#WordyWednesday: Mouth Former
A thin piece of shaped plastic used to recreate the proper contour of a mouth in the event of missing teeth/dentures or other disfiguration. The plastic lays against the gums and beneath the closed lips. They can be trimmed for a better fit.
Note the little raised triangle perforations: those are to lightly snag the tissue inside the lips and hold everything in place. The tiny round holes are for strings or wires to pass through and secure the jaws together.
Sometimes dentures are provided by the family, but if they haven't been worn in a long time, they often don't fit well. Mouth formers are more forgiving. Other times dentures are brought in *after* the mouth has already been closed. Those dentures usually end up inside the foot of the casket or under the casket pillow.
#HisAndHearsePress #FuneralFacts #Embalming #MortuaryScience #Embalmer #Mortician #DeathPositive #Funeral
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Looking to follow people with startlingly unusual content? That's me!
I'm a funeral director and embalmer turned writer and educator. I love teaching others about dead bodies and funerals, but in a light and easy to understand way. I want to help mitigate fear and stigma through open discussion. Ask me anything! (Bonus: if you're a writer, I can totally help set your scenes and ensure accuracy!)
I try to share themed posts like #MondayMourning, #WordyWednesday, and #FuneralFactFriday. I also love books, memes, cats, dogs, dinosaurs, trash cats, welding, and demolition derby driving.
So I'm a bit all over the place, but guaranteed to be one of the most interesting people around!
#HisAndHearsePress #FollowFriday #FollowBackFriday #NiceToMeetYou #Funeral #FuneralDirector #Embalmer #Mortician #MortuaryScience #DeathPositive #Author #Writer #WritingCommunity #Catstodon #Dogstodon #Bookstodon #Bookwyrm
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CW: Description of embalming tool and usage
#WordyWednesday: Needle Injector
(A day late, but Mastodon wouldn't upload my pic yesterday)
A stainless-steel tool used to facilitate a mouth closure on a dead person. The tool drives a small barb into the jawbone through the gums (one goes into the upper jaw, one goes into the lower jaw), then the thin wires attached to each barb are twisted together. Not a great tool for embalmers with tiny hands. (I prefer to suture the mouth closed from the inside)
#HisAndHearsePress #Embalmer #Embalming #NeedleInjector #SurgicalInstruments #Mortician #Funeral #ToolsOfTheTrade #Tools #Words #Vocab #Vocabulary