Momento Mori...
I am Miranda, I am studying to be an undertaker at the University of Minnesota Mortuary Science program (In 2014 - Currently doing prereqs at Century College) and I currently work as a nanny by day and the low-man on the totem pole at my local funeral home by night - I pick up the dead at 3am, wash them and then put them in their freezer drawer of containment. Feel free to ask any and all questions you have about death, the death industry and any questions you'd like confirmed true or false. Nothing is too weird or too curious! If I don't know, I will find out for you! Don't be shy! :)READ THE FAQ. http://mortuaryendeavors.tumblr.com/FAQ before asking questions, please!
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*Death Questions Go Here!*
My personal blog is http://porcheria.tumblr.com
"…”The other thing that reliably happens when a body hits water after a long fall is that the ribs break”… Autopsy reports from 169 people who had jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge - 85% had broken ribs, whereas only 15% emerged with fractured vertebrae and only a third with arm or leg fractures. Broken ribs are minor in and of themselves, but during high-velocity impacts, they break and become sharp, jagged weapons that pierce and slice what lies within them: the heart, lungs and aorta. In 76% of the cases they (Snyder and Snow - Doctors doing the study) looked at, the ribs had punctured the lungs."
Stiff, The curious lives of human cadavers by Mary Roach. Pg. 119
A coworker said it perfectly when asked today how we deal with the emotional side of our job.
“When working on a body, we look at it from a medical point of view. We look at the eyes, then the mouth, the skin… Noting little details that contributed to death. We don’t stand back and say, “This is a person who is the father of four, named after his war veteran uncle. His youngest son has a little league game today.”
We don’t do that. We can’t. It’s the only way you’ll emotionally survive.”
Oh thank you!! I did some research as well and found a list of expenses, I was way low on my guess haha. Also I have a personal question, how do you handle with the certain smells? And Do the chemicals bother you?
You’re welcome!
Umm, the smells do get to me. Sometimes the chemicals can make us sick. They can be really strong.
A body following complete autopsy. Note the sutured Y-shaped incision. Also note that, after the scalp is reflected back into its original position, and the incision is stitched, it is impossible to detect from the front that the head has been autopsied. This allows for adequate viewing of bodies at funerals.
On a sunny and hot afternoon, July 6, 1944, thousands of fans made their way to Barbour Street in Hartford, Connecticut to see the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus performance. 168 circus fans never went home. The others returned home with physical and emotional scars that they will bear for the rest of their lives.
The best-known victim of the circus fire was a young blonde girl wearing a white dress. She is known only as “Little Miss 1565”, named after the number assigned to her body at the city’s makeshift morgue. Oddly well preserved even after her death, her face has become arguably the most familiar image of the fire. She was never identified and her body has never been claimed.
(via traciinwonderland)
There are few grossly visible features of drowning. A frothy fluid may exude from mouth and nose. Prolonged immersion may produce skin wrinkling. Seen here are bilateral petrous ridge of temporal bone hemorrhages that may occur in association with drowning.
AIR BURIALS.
Read this article if you’re at all interested. :) It’s so informative!
