To say that I was furious about the Dispatches 'Undercover Undertaker' programme last night is an overstatement.
I was very excited to see what scandalous operations were secretly filmed and hopeful of them ensuring regulatory changes were to be made in the funeral industry. It was all a bit of a let down to be honest.
The programme showed secret filming of a warehouse which housed a mortuary racking system - where deceased were kept prior to being embalmed, coffined, and returned to the local funeral home and where the fleet of vehicles were kept along with a large supply of coffins. The programme also showed a funeral home manager training his team to not promote the cheaper coffins and not to offer the cheapest funerals. The 'investigator' also discussed the need for 'hygienic treatment' and its' cost and whether this was a necessity to the client. They showed through secret filming, how the funeral arranger advised families they needed this treatment as there were to be viewings of the deceased and asked them to sign for permission to carry out this treatment.
I believe your chosen funeral home should house the deceased they are looking after, where possible, for the whole duration of their stay before the funeral. Your funeral director should not be trying to persuade you into purchasing something you do not need, and that includes a more expensive coffin. Within every industry there are unscrupulous individuals who are out for every ounce of profit they can make. Funeral homes need to make a profit to stay in business but whilst doing so they can be clear and honest with their clients, conduct themselves in a manner befitting the trust placed in their laps.
I was very disappointed with the funeral spokesperson as he didn't explain the reasons for hygienic treatment.
He could have said that we try to ensure the best possible experience when saying goodbye and hygienic treatment helps with that. It also means the persons who need to dress the deceased can do so knowing they aren't going to be covered in faeces, vomit, blood or other body fluids because their embalmer has been in and cleaned everything and disinfected everything and made the deceased look at peace. He could have asked the reporter if she had seen a deceased person who had been poorly and unable to shave or wash their hair or clean their nails. Then made her return once they had been embalmed and had their dignity restored for their loved ones last image of them. Goodness! Can you tell I am very irritated? What a complete let down.
I have no way of letting the public know how I feel. So here I am letting you all know so you can tell anyone who mentions it to you. If you have any questions or comments, I would be happy to answer them to the best of my ability here for you. I feel sorry for the people who have used the funeral home mentioned in the documentary, they possibly feel very let down. I hope they don't. Just because there are a few idiot individuals, the whole company isn't full of them.
Next time I shall try to not rant! Meanwhile, my colleague has a good blog for you to look at too.
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Sunday, 17 June 2012
Great expectations
Hello everyone, its been a month since I last posted, sorry. Sometimes I feel I have covered everything here, then every day something new happens and I want to share it with you. I find myself needing to wait though, to ensure the anonymity of the people I look after.
Do take a moment to watch the film I posted by Briony Campbell. It is very moving, and in the spirit of Death Cafe , very relevant. People talking about death is a good thing. Hard. But good.
I was horrified when a family member asked to meet me a couple of weeks ago. It's not something I do very often as I am more of a 'back room staff' kind of girl. I have no formal training on meeting the families and I am never, ever dressed appropriately for it.
I telephoned and spoke to him and apologised for my jeans and t-shirt but would be happy to see them in an hour. He was so sad at the death of his father and wanted to go over a few things that he didn't want for him. One of those was embalming.
The funeral director had already explained that as various other family members wanted to see Dad, we encourage embalming. I expanded on this explaining that we want everyone to have the best experience they can, and embalming would ensure this for them. We both agreed that Dad needed to look peaceful and natural. We discussed hair washing, shaving, bathing and cleaning nails and the son explained that he had previously had a couple of experiences with chapel visits and they weren't good. ( Not with my company I hasten to add! )
He didn't want Dad to have swollen features, nor his teeth replaced as he never wore his dentures. Rather interestingly, Dad wasn't to be dressed in pyjamas, clothes or a gown either. Just a plain sheet. Wrapped like a towel out of the bath. Also, his hands weren't to touch as he had gripped them during his illness, whenever he was in pain.
We always want to help the families with their requests. No matter how different they are. I completely understood his feelings and everyone did their best to ensure every detail was perfect.
My embalming treatment was a subtle one. It felt odd not using any colourant, and not replacing teeth, but I managed to get a peaceful look none the less. Wrapping him in a clean white sheet and placing him in his coffin was easy enough, and the effect was actually quite clinical. Medical, healing even. Peaceful too.
Viewings occurred later that week, and from what I have been told, everyone was pleased to see him to say their goodbyes. The immediate family didn't come in, but I hope his son took comfort from knowing we carried out all his wishes, to the letter.
Do take a moment to watch the film I posted by Briony Campbell. It is very moving, and in the spirit of Death Cafe , very relevant. People talking about death is a good thing. Hard. But good.
I was horrified when a family member asked to meet me a couple of weeks ago. It's not something I do very often as I am more of a 'back room staff' kind of girl. I have no formal training on meeting the families and I am never, ever dressed appropriately for it.
I telephoned and spoke to him and apologised for my jeans and t-shirt but would be happy to see them in an hour. He was so sad at the death of his father and wanted to go over a few things that he didn't want for him. One of those was embalming.
The funeral director had already explained that as various other family members wanted to see Dad, we encourage embalming. I expanded on this explaining that we want everyone to have the best experience they can, and embalming would ensure this for them. We both agreed that Dad needed to look peaceful and natural. We discussed hair washing, shaving, bathing and cleaning nails and the son explained that he had previously had a couple of experiences with chapel visits and they weren't good. ( Not with my company I hasten to add! )
He didn't want Dad to have swollen features, nor his teeth replaced as he never wore his dentures. Rather interestingly, Dad wasn't to be dressed in pyjamas, clothes or a gown either. Just a plain sheet. Wrapped like a towel out of the bath. Also, his hands weren't to touch as he had gripped them during his illness, whenever he was in pain.
We always want to help the families with their requests. No matter how different they are. I completely understood his feelings and everyone did their best to ensure every detail was perfect.
My embalming treatment was a subtle one. It felt odd not using any colourant, and not replacing teeth, but I managed to get a peaceful look none the less. Wrapping him in a clean white sheet and placing him in his coffin was easy enough, and the effect was actually quite clinical. Medical, healing even. Peaceful too.
Viewings occurred later that week, and from what I have been told, everyone was pleased to see him to say their goodbyes. The immediate family didn't come in, but I hope his son took comfort from knowing we carried out all his wishes, to the letter.
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