Why is advanced embalming so important? No two people are the same and thus, no two cases are the same. Though, many embalming practitioners tend to treat most cases with the same chemical formulations and surface treatments, there are times that people suffer from diseases or traumatic events that have devastating effect on the embalming treatment and the physical appearance of the deceased. Therefore, critical measures must be taken to prepare the body. Car accidents, drowning, dehydration, malnutrition, decomposition, drug overdoses, discoloration and edema are just some examples of the cases you as a professional will experience over the course of your career. It is through your eyes and hands that this person must resemble a natural like state. The skillset and eye for detail leave lasting effects not only on the appearance of the deceased individual, but will have a tremendous life-long impact on how their loved ones will remember them. More so and beyond restoring the physical appearance of the deceased, advanced embalming can do so much more to facilitate comfort for family members as they move through the grieving process and into the healing process. Sudden deaths, especially those involving traumatic circumstances send loved ones into various states of shock and disbelief. It is at this moment that the initial denial stage Natural vs. artificial preservation Historically, human remains have been preserved naturally through freezing, cold or dry heat or, in the right climate, through burial in a particular type of dirt or soil. Though, mostly reserved for modern day preparation, artificial means of preservation through methods of embalming or evisceration - removing the organs - have also been used throughout early history. Natural means of preservation include freezing, desiccation/ exsiccation either by dry cold or by dry heat, and the nature of the soil. These approaches are/were most often used by individuals practicing religious customs that do not sanction the use of chemical based preservation or mutilation of the human body through the method of embalming or artificial means of preservation. The natural means of preservation can be categorized as natural mummification - caused by Mother Nature which occurs when remains are buried or treated in climate conditions. Freezing or use of ice was implemented as an embalming method at the start of the American civil war and in fact this practice is still in existence in developing countries. Artificial means of preservation in both historical and modern-day embalming techniques comprise of applications used with simple heat or cold, powders, such as a sawdust bed mixed with zinc sulphate, evisceration combined with immersion, drying, local incision and immersion, arterial injections, cavity injections. Furthermore, simple immersion in alcohol, brine, etc., and sole arterial injection, which can be combined with cavity treatment and/ or immersion, have all been used.
of grieve begins to have impact and reality ceases to exist in the minds of those left behind. When family members and loved ones begin to let the shock of loss settle in they start to realize that they will never see their dearly departed again- devastation, anger and sadness begin to take over sending them into a spiral of uncontrolled thoughts and often into dark places. Not knowing all of the facts or the truth surrounding the death can be mentally and emotionally destructive. There are numerous scenarios that can play out and the only reality will be the identification and viewing of their departed kin. Having the ability to see their loved one looking in a peaceful and natural state may help to create a positive viewing experience and allow friends and family to begin to accept and grieve the death in a healthier way. Such, cases generally take a longer period of time to prepare and the embalmer should be consulted before deciding viewing times with relatives. These operations require extensive time, patience, and skill to complete. Moreover, as traditional funerals begin to decline, today’s funeral professionals realize that their firms’ long-term survival and consumer satisfaction is based on appearance and customer service. Thus, the preparation and display of a families’ loved ones has major effect on the development and future growth of the business. Towards the end of the 1600s, European embalming that had been reserved for the purposes of preservation of the dead for anatomical dissection and study were developed. Through this process, the use of colored waxes injected into organs and tissues kept said organs preserved for longer periods of time. This procedure was widely used by medical and anatomical schools to aid in the discovery of disease that plagued the deceased patient. This of course gave insight to modern medicine and diagnosis and the procedure is still practiced today. One of the most distinct eras in embalming history began around 1861, during the American Civil War. During this time, what would become an advanced method of embalming for this period of history became essential for the transport of human remains, namely officers, before being removed from the battlefield or out of staged hospital areas and taken to their final places of rest. It was during this period, when embalmers began to experiment with combinations of compounds such as arsenic, creosote, mercury, turpentine and various forms of alcohol. Thomas Holmes, the father of modern embalming, who is said to have performed about 4000 embalming procedures, had developed arsenic based solutions which became one of the first accepted embalming fluids. The methods developed and used during this war era was the beginning of what we now know of as modern-day embalming. What is recognized today as the conventional method of embalming is not the result of a single practitioner discovery, but rather the accumulation of many decades’ even centuries of researches, trials and errors and inventions.
AN OVERVIEW OF CHEMICAL COMPONENTS
Since ancient times the preservation of human remains has remained at the forefront of response to religion and the passage into eternal life. The use of chemicals for the purpose of preservation must defray from risk of infections or disease contracted from the deceased human body. In addition, it is intended for the prevention or slowing of
putrefaction, contamination and disturbances of the body caused by a cellular and molecular breakdown. Despite their chemical properties, fluids used in embalming preservation should provide a long-term structural preservation of organs and tissues together
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