Undertakers
 

When someone dies and get sent off to the undertakers, the undertaker will remove a pacemaker (where fitted) before cremation so that the cremation can go peacefully.
So, do the undertakers need any kind of special license to cut someone apart? Sure, it's all a bit of a moot point due to the physical state of said cadaver, but there must be some governance, surely?
Who owns said pacemaker/hip replacement etc - could your family/next of kin ask for it back?

I don't think we have any undertakers here, wondering whether any of the plumbers know?

Re: Undertakers
 

ooooookaaaaaay?

Re: Undertakers
 

I find that hard to believe but without having done any searching of my own I'll not make judgement. But surely it would be a patholigist that would do this task. I was of the understanding an undertaker would 'dress' the corpse to make it 'presentable' to the relatives. Not slice it up retrieving items?

Re: Undertakers
 

I have just read up on it. Yuk!!

Re: Undertakers
 

Oh, quite possibly - I thought a pathologist was more investigative. I suppose they could give this task to the YTS/NVQ pathologist?

What's the link man? I didn't find anything useful when I looked - sounds like you're more aufait with the terms necessary.

Re: Undertakers
 

Not just Dress i will have you know ......
this is a story my mum told me the other week , her friend in work has been feeling off colour latley and she went to the doctors and they took a blood test ect ect, called her back into the surgery a week or so later and asked what she does for a living, she replied a cleaner, they then asked what her husband does for a living she replied an undertaker,
They doctor gave my mums friend some horrible news that she has got a desise what can only be caught from corpceses her husband was later arrested .. turns out he had been Stiffying the stiffies !

Sorry for going off topic .

Re: Undertakers
 

That true or another one of these urban legends.. I've read of something similar before.

Re: Undertakers
 

Mortuary technicians, Pathologists, Doctors, or Funeral Directors.

To be fair, would you really want to ask for it back?

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My mum told me the otherday, so unless shes pulling my leg but its not like my mum to make this sort of thing up.

Re: Undertakers
 

I *think* people usually get such items returned as a routine matter, some author was on TV the other day and he showed the audience his dad's pacemaker (he said he considered it a personal momento) and mentioned that they didnt have to ask, but perhaps that was a special case? Easy enough to find out - ring the hospital.

"Stiff: the curious lives of human cadavers By Mary Roach" is also an excellent book to read to find out the facts (rather than the urban myths).

Re: Undertakers
 

I think the mortuary technician would do that after the post mortem.

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Not quite. My grandad sadly passed away a year ago with severe heart failure. He had a pacemaker fitted by the Heart Hospital in London and the mortuary technician couldnt/wasnt allowed to remove it before my grandad was cremeated. Apparently it was too dangerous? :confused:

Anyhoo, it ended up with someone from the Heart Hospital traveling all the way to the mortuary to remove it.

Re: Undertakers
 

Your grandad must have had some sort of super duper pacemaker Maria that they may have intended on using for someone else?

Normally it is either the undertaker or a GP who will remove the pacemaker. It has to be removed otherwise the furnace will blow up (apparantly!). There is no risk to anyone removing it other than the usual blood borne infections that they should be protecting themselves from anyway. A GP will charge to remove the pacemaker, I think the last time I heard it was £50 to £100 to remove one.

Re: Undertakers
 

she will be (possibly unwittingly) , a colleague told me the same thing a couple of years ago

Re: Undertakers
 

So nearly right!!

It's to do with the fact that crematoria, like other incinerators and other waste combustion plant, have strict limits on what they are permitted to emit into the atmosphere. Its the "heavy metals" in the pacemakers (cadmium, etc) that are the issue, along with mercury in the amalgam used for tooth fillings.

It is also down to the desire to keep combustion gases free from visible matter when they leave the flue. No one want to see Great Aunt Ethel's remains being sent skywards.

I have lots of stories I could tell....... but not here ;-)

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Yeah, Jabba is right. It's to stop air pollution basically. The batteries are usually mercury I believe, which we call know is harmful.

I wouldn't see the problem with seeing a relatives ashes float off into the sky! Seems kind of cool!

Re: Undertakers
 

Think of it as "wide area scattering of remains according to wind direction" ;-)

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Generally the pathologist removes them if there is a PM, if not then I was under the impression that the undertakers dealt with that....a bit like how they stitch up all the holes and stuff.......

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I`d like to hear the stories lol and many thanks cos it`s really nice to find out the exact rationale. If ever i`m asked in the future by a patients family it will sound so much nicer to be able to say that it`s due to the heavy metals in the pacemaker rather than telling them "it`s cos Aunty Ethel will blow the incinerator up"!!! :)

Re: Undertakers
 

Cool, thanks - I'll look that up

Re: Undertakers
 

Well that's been a very interesting read - thanks all!