embalming ch1+2

Body Image

an imprinted vision and/or characteristics of a person that we are connected to; a mental photograph that is in our hearts and minds.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention / CDCP (CDC)

A major agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, concerned with all phases of control of communicable, vector-borne, and occupational diseases.

Coroner

An official of a local community who holds inquests concerning sudden, violent, and unexpected deaths.

Environmental Protection Agency / EPA

A governmental agency with environmental protection regulations and enforcement authority.

Embalming

Process of chemically treating the dead human body to reduce the presence and growth of microorganisms, to temporarily inhibit organic decomposition, and to restore an acceptable physical appearance.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

The government agency responsible for regulating “The Funeral Rule”

First Call

the term used when the first call comes into the funeral home to complete a ‘pick up’ or ‘removal’ of the deceased. This call grants the funeral home permission to pick up ONLY. (This is NOT permission to embalm!)

Funeral

in its most elementary form, a social function that reflects the reality of our capacity to form deep attachments, and that most humans need to grieve and mourn our dead

Medical Examiner

An official elected or appointed to investigate suspicious or unnatural deaths

Occupational Safety and Health Administration / OSHA

A Governmental Agency with the responsibility for regulation and enforcement of safety and health matters for most United States employees; an individual State OSHA agency may supersede the U.S. Department of Labor OSHA regulations.

Arterial Embalming

utilizing the blood vascular system to deliver preservative solutions to all areas of the body at once

Aspiration

Withdrawal of gas, fluids, and semi-solids from body cavities and hollow viscera by means of suction with an aspirator and a trocar.

Autopsy

A postmortem examination of the organs & tissues of a body to determine the cause of death or pathological condition

Autolysis

Self-destruction of cells; decomposition of all tissues by enzymes of their formation without microbial assistance.

Burial Chamber

casket and vault OR casket and crypt

Capillaries

Minute blood vessels, the walls of which comprise a single layer of endothelial cells. Capillaries connect the smallest arteries (arteriole) with the smallest veins (venule) and are where pressure filtration occurs.

Capillary Permeability

Ability of substances to diffuse through capillary walls into the tissue spaces.

Cavity Embalming

Direct treatment, other than vascular (arterial) injection, of the contents of the body cavities and the lumina of the hollow viscera; usually accomplished by aspiration and injection.

Decay

Decomposition of proteins by enzymes of aerobic bacteria

Decompose

to separate into constituent parts or elements or into simpler compounds; to break up into constituent parts or as if by a chemical process.

Decomposition

Separation of compounds into simpler substances by the action of microbial and/or autolytic enzymes.

Embalming

Process of chemically treating the dead human body to reduce the presence and growth of microorganisms, to temporarily inhibit organic decomposition, and to restore an acceptable physical appearance.

Enzyme

An organic catalyst produced by living cells and capable of autolytic decomposition.

Hypodermic Embalming

Injection of embalming chemicals directly into the tissues using a syringe and needle or a trocar.

Preserve

to keep safe - free from decay-free from decomposition

Preservative

chemicals that inactivate saprophytic bacteria, render unsuitable for nutrition the media upon which such bacteria thrive, and which will arrest decomposition by altering enzymes and lysins of the body as well as converting the decomposable tissue to a form less susceptible to decomposition.

Protein

Organic compound found in plants and animals; can be broken down into amino acids.

Putrefaction

Decomposition of proteins by the action of enzymes from anaerobic bacteria.

Restoration

Treatment of the deceased in the attempt to recreate natural form & color; to an acceptable appearance.

Sanitation

A process to promote and establish conditions that minimize or eliminate biohazards.

Substrate

A substance acted upon (protein, fat, or carbohydrate) by an enzyme in the living organism, or embalming chemicals in preserving the dead human body

Surface Embalming

The direct contact of body tissues with embalming chemicals.

Stabilize

To prevent or retard an unwanted alteration of a physical state. Slowing the onset of the changes of decomposition by the use of refrigeration, dry or wet ice, and the injection of non-formaldehyde fluids.

Temporary Preservation / (Preservation)

The science of treating the body chemically to temporarily inhibit decomposition.

Trocar

Sharply pointed surgical instrument used in cavity embalming to aspirate the cavities and inject cavity fluid. The trocar may also be used for supplemental hypodermic embalming.

Vascular (Arterial) Embalming

The use of the blood vascular system of the body for temporary preservation, disinfection, and restoration; accomplished through injection of embalming solutions into the arteries and drainage from the veins. (Also can be known as Capillary Embalming)