dead bodies and pine-sol?
shadowed an embalmer last night. some of the tid bits i learned, some i already knew:
-dead bodies=extremely dangerous, even after embalming. never kiss grandma/whoever even if he/she's in the casket on display.
-start by disinfecting the orafices.
-their eyeballs go flat from lack of fluid. clear plastic eye caps have to be inserted.
-lips must be stitched together on the inside by use of hollow needle and medical string.
-the coming and going of rigor mortis varies greatly in everyone.
-your mind plays tricks on you. you'd swear the person was still breathing.
-the skin on the neck was extremely soft and easy to slice. the tissues, muscles and veins were tough and made it extremely difficult to find the carotid artery and jugular.
-the injector was then inserted into the carotid artery to pump the embalming fluid throughout the body. different chemicals were poured into the tank so the body would retain it's proper "life-like" color. another section of the injector (think large, hollow needle, about 1/2 inch thick) allowed for the pumping out of the blood that was building up within it.
-the body's arm was blocking the slight wall of the slab, preventing the excess blood from flowing to the sink. it was extremely difficult to push the body over, due to rigor mortis. the skin was still very moveable. i thought we were going to rip the skin off if we moved it.
-this particular body had a tumor in the belly. felt like you were pushing down on a balloon filled with rubber.
-post-mortem wounds are filled with cotton and a type of putty.
-the body was disinfected after the whole process was completed... with non other than pine-sol from the local grocery store.
all in all, very interesting experience. i'll be getting a call if and when she gets an accident victim to observe the reconstruction of body parts and the removal of organs.
i wanted to keep my little white suit and mask.
-dead bodies=extremely dangerous, even after embalming. never kiss grandma/whoever even if he/she's in the casket on display.
-start by disinfecting the orafices.
-their eyeballs go flat from lack of fluid. clear plastic eye caps have to be inserted.
-lips must be stitched together on the inside by use of hollow needle and medical string.
-the coming and going of rigor mortis varies greatly in everyone.
-your mind plays tricks on you. you'd swear the person was still breathing.
-the skin on the neck was extremely soft and easy to slice. the tissues, muscles and veins were tough and made it extremely difficult to find the carotid artery and jugular.
-the injector was then inserted into the carotid artery to pump the embalming fluid throughout the body. different chemicals were poured into the tank so the body would retain it's proper "life-like" color. another section of the injector (think large, hollow needle, about 1/2 inch thick) allowed for the pumping out of the blood that was building up within it.
-the body's arm was blocking the slight wall of the slab, preventing the excess blood from flowing to the sink. it was extremely difficult to push the body over, due to rigor mortis. the skin was still very moveable. i thought we were going to rip the skin off if we moved it.
-this particular body had a tumor in the belly. felt like you were pushing down on a balloon filled with rubber.
-post-mortem wounds are filled with cotton and a type of putty.
-the body was disinfected after the whole process was completed... with non other than pine-sol from the local grocery store.
all in all, very interesting experience. i'll be getting a call if and when she gets an accident victim to observe the reconstruction of body parts and the removal of organs.
i wanted to keep my little white suit and mask.