June 2018

Page A16 JUNE 2018 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A The Most User-Friendly First Call Pouch Ever! 1-800-645-8966 www.kanga-woo.com Inside pocket for used gloves or personal items Inside pocket for used gloves or personal items Reversible design and two-way zippers means NO “right way / wrong way” to place pouch on cot! Pillow sleeve Pillow sleeve or plastics, sheet storage Designed by a Funeral Director to Make Every Removal Easier Hidden full length mattress sleeve 3” HEARSE NAMEPLATES 1-8 spaces $80.50 per nameplate 9-13 spaces $92.50 per nameplate 14-15 spaces $109.00 per nameplate 16-18 spaces $119.00 per nameplate Many Letter Styles and Sizes Available DEDUCT $10.00 each for Satin Aluminum Finish By Matt Black Embalming Tips & Tools Generalized Embalming of the Hands (Part 3) Long term refrigeration can cause embalming prob- lems, but it is a proven necessity in today’s funeral in- dustry. A disadvantage of long term refrigeration is the pooling of blood, caused by gravity, in dependent parts of the body. A mechanical cooling process of over 6 hours allows the blood to remain in a non-sludge liq- uid state much longer, allowing the plasma from the blood to leave the vascular system and settle in these de- pendent areas. This can cause localized edema in elbows and hands if the hands are not elevated. The plasma loss from the blood also causes dehydration. A major concern from all this plasma loss is that blood in the vascular system will begin to sludge. This increase in blood viscosity will cause drainage and injection chemical distribution concerns. Since 85% of the blood is in the capillaries at death this becomes a real issue with drainage, preservation and distribution, especially to the hands. Additionally, capillaries may rupture and increase capillary permeability. The more time a body is kept in refrigeration the more severe these problems can become. As always, our focus is always on preservation over any cosmetic approach or technique. One issue we face is post-mortem lividity becoming post-mortem stains. A normal occurrence we see in refrigerated bodies is the lividity has left the capillaries and entered the surround- ing tissue. In all cases, especially these long-term refrig- eration cases, it is recommended that all facilities keep the head and hands elevated. This will help control the pooling of blood to these areas. have rigor mortis instantaneously. Refrigeration will slow the progress of rigor mortis. An important fact to remember is that decomposition is what breaks down rigor mortis. Refrigeration of a body slows down the putrefaction of cells that causes decomposition. If we look at it in a positive way, a body kept in a cooler and in rigor mortis is less likely to be in a rapid decompo- sition state. Rigor mortis has three phases: Primary Flaccidity, Rigor Mortis and Secondary Flaccidity. An easier way to remember these stages is Pre-Rigor Mortis, Rigor Mortis and Post Rigor Mortis. With short-term refrig- eration we can have Rigor Mortis. With long-term re- frigeration we can expect no Rigor Mortis but we can see cold stiffening of the body and hands that resem- bles Rigor Mortis. Rigor Mortis also plays a role in formaldehyde demands. The hands and arms will nor- mally be moist and clammy from the moisture within the pouch. In our next installment, we will continue the discussion of techniques and analysis to embalming the hands. In long-term refrigeration it is not unusual for these cool- ing devices to freeze the body. This is an unfavorable con- dition due to ice crystals forming in the blood and tissue. As we know, when water freezes it expands and crystalizes. Since the body is made up of 60% water one can easily see why unintentionally freezing the body in the cooler is not desirable. Ice crystals are sharp and irregular and can cause tearing and puncturing, and along with expansion and contraction can cause a real issue in the tissue, even in par- tially frozen or un-thawed bodies. Arterial injecting when a body is not thawed will cause tissue swelling and very poor distribution. It is always advisable to allow the body to warm gradually in room temperature. Another concern is trying to rapidly thaw a frozen or partially frozen body – with heaters or hot water – which causes more problems. Follow your embalming protocol. Breaking rigor mortis using manipulation is NOT recommended in a frozen or partially frozen body. With the formation of ice crystals, using manipulation techniques will tear the tissue, causing additional issues. We all know that rigor mortis affects almost all bodies – the exception would be badly burned, charred or scalded remains. Rigor mortis has many variables and can be the most troublesome post mortem issue we encounter in ev- eryday embalming. Rigor mortis influences many aspects of the embalming process from positioning the body and hands to distribution difficulties resulting from altered pH. This will influence decomposition and change the tis- sue state of proteins in the body. On average, rigor mortis appears within 2-4 hours after death and passes, on aver- age, 36 hours after death. Normally the fingers are one of the last areas to lose rigor mortis. When a death is caused by sudden trauma like a motorcycle accident we might Matt Black has been a licensed funeral director and embalmer in the State of Pennsylvania for over 20 years. He represents The Dodge Company in Central and Western Pennsylvania. In addi- tion to being a graduate of the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortu- ary Science, Matt also holds degrees in Bio-Medical Engineering Technology and Industrial Management. Matt has also attended the Fountain National Academy of Professional Embalming Skills, Springfield, MO, and is licensed in eye and corneal enucleation. He has presented at Dodge Embalming Seminars as well as numer- ous local seminars in Pennsylvania. He can be reached by email at mblack@Dodgeco.com. www.nomispublications.com Funeral Home & Cemetery News Contributors share insights and exchange ideas. B logs (which means they also link to your site); and include strongly relevant images and video. Citations are also quite impor- tant. These are mentions of your funeral home’s name and address on other webpages—even when there is no link to your website. An example might be an online direc- tory where your business is listed, but there’s no actual link to it. Citations can also be found on local chamber of commerce pag- es, or on a local business asso- ciation page that includes your business information. Obituar- ies and death notices can count as citations. Additionally, it’s very impor- tant to ensure that your busi- ness’s name, main address and main phone number are correct and consistent on your website, in marketing materials and on- line citations. If a search engine “sees” a va- riety of different addresses or phone numbers, it could get confused over whether they’re different businesses, and you might not get full credit for all of your citations. Everything in your marketing efforts must be consistent to get the best possi- ble ranking in organic searches. Welton  Hong is the founder of Ring Ring Marketing® and a leading expert in creating case gen- eration from online to the phone line. He is the author of Mak- ing Your Phone Ring with Inter- net Marketing for Funeral Homes. For more information, visit www.FuneralHomeProfits.com. Achieving Top Organic Local Search Rankings Continued from Page A14 Indiana Funeral Director’s Play Hits the Stage David Rousculp NEW HAVEN,IN— Funeral direc- tor and playwright David Rous- culp is seeing a dream come true: his award-winning script, My Dead Clown , goes into full production this July. Rousculp is the general manag- er at Harper’s Community Funer- al Home , New Haven, IN and is a 1984 graduate of Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science . After winning last year’s North West Indiana Script Competition, a group of people approached Da- vid about getting the story on stage, and finding the funding to do it. “I was surprised how quickly donations came in, not only from the local Fort Wayne people but some of my funer- al suppliers as well,” said Rousculp. Bill, a distraught and grieving fu- neral director, accidentally pours holy water into the embalming ma- chine and brings a ridiculous clown back to life. Death attempts to fix the situation but gives up because the clown is so irritating. The Devil finds out about the illegal resurrection and wants to know how Bill did it. My Dead Clown is full of laughs but is also story of love, hope and faith. The show’s only song is an upbeat number to convince someone not to commit suicide titled “Let’s Paint the Town.” It has been re- corded at Sweetwater Studios and features powerful vocals by Kat Bowser. Rousculp is donating a portion of the song’s profits to the Sui- cide Prevention Hotline Organization. Rousculp has also been approached by a produc- tion company from Hol- lywood. Opening night is Friday July 13, and My Dead Clown runs through July 22 at the First Presbyterian Theater in Fort Wayne. For more information visit www. firstpresbyteriantheater.com.