NASCAR move aside...

After that call I was broke in well to the life of a mortician.  There is nothing like being trapped inside a vehicle with a decomposing body, but oh did all the removal people get good at finding the quickest way to return them to the coroners office.  If it was a normal call people would take their time getting back to the mortuary, but oh those decomps.  You never really get use to the smell of decomposing meat, but it does become tolerable.  If you get any of the body fluids on you of a decomp though you might as well kiss that item good-bye.  No amount of washing or scrubbing gets that smell and greasy feeling out.  I ruined countless pairs of shoes in the course of my six years and we won't even talk about pants.  When removal people go on calls there is a set routine that gets followed to make sure it's as smooth as possible.  When a death occurs there are a few steps that not everyone knows.  If the deceased has been ill and is on hospice, either the nurse who is with them takes charge or if the family is taking care of them they need to call the hospice nurse.  Most people automatically think they need to call 911, but that is not true!  If the family knew that their loved one was sick and was receiving care through a hospice or doctor, they are the ones to call first thing.  If they are called they will check the deceased and call a mortuary of the families choosing.  If the family ends up calling 911 an ambulance and cops are sent to the house, they then have to call the coroners office who has to send an investigator out to the house.  The coroner then has to contact the doctor to verify that yes, the person was ill and their death was expected.  Then the coroner will call the mortuary of the families choosing.  If, in that long process of unintended phone calls, the coroner does not get a hold of the patients doctor, the coroner has to take control of the deceased's body until they contact the physician.  It makes the process so much longer and more stressful for the family.  Always remember, if you have a loved one who knew it was impending, call their hospice or doctor first when the death occurs.  After the person is declared dead, the nurse or the coroner calls the mortuary.  At our mortuary we had a switchboard operator who answered the phones and they gathered some general vital statistics and other information and sent the first-call to the preparation facility.  When we got the call in the preproom someone left directly from there or a driver was called who was available close to the death area.  The driver tried to hurry as quick as possible to the first-call and upon arrival grabbed the first-call book and went into the facility or home.  One person was all that was usually needed for hospices, hospitals or some group homes.  Two people were required at a home because usually you needed the extra muscle to get the person out because of not being able to get the gurney right next to the bed or wherever the person may be to get them out of the house.  After signing the necessary paperwork with the nurse or coroner we would talk to the family if they were there and see if they had any questions or needed one last moment with the deceased before we took them.  We would then go into the room and analyze the scene of the deceased.  Would we need to carry them to the gurney?  Would we need help moving them because they were large?  Do we need an extra hospital sheet for any body fluids or to help move them?  Did a hospital ID band match the information we had?  Did they have any personal items on?  All of these were some of the questions we had to ask before even touching the deceased.  A paper toe tag was filled out with name, place of death and SSN then placed on the deceased's right toe for our identification.  Then we would return to the van grabbing gloves, a plastic sheet we used, a hospital sheet if needed and our gurney.  Going back into the room it was favorable to get the gurney right next to the bed the deceased was on, if possible, and then transfer then straight across to the gurney.  Each call the same routine, different cases.  Throughout the rest of this blog I will share some of my most memorable cases with you...