What Do Embalmers Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

Embalmers prepare bodies for interment in conformity with legal requirements. They also dress bodies and place them in caskets.

Other tasks include:

• Conform to laws of health and sanitation and ensure that legal requirements concerning embalming are met.
• Close incisions, using needles and sutures.
• Attach trocar to pump-tube, start pump, and repeat probing to force embalming fluid into organs.
• Wash and dry bodies, using germicidal soap and towels or hot air dryers.
• Incise stomach and abdominal walls and probe internal organs, using trocar, to withdraw blood and waste matter from organs.
• Join lips, using needles and thread or wire.

We asked Embalmers how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

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70% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 82% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, Embalmers arrange funeral home equipment and perform general maintenance. They conform to laws of health and sanitation and ensure that legal requirements concerning embalming are met.

A typical day for an Embalmer will also include:

• Supervise funeral attendants and other funeral home staff.
• Close incisions, using needles and sutures.
• Maintain records, such as itemized lists of clothing or valuables delivered with body and names of persons embalmed.
• Incise stomach and abdominal walls and probe internal organs, using trocar, to withdraw blood and waste matter from organs.
• Wash and dry bodies, using germicidal soap and towels or hot air dryers.

We asked some Embalmers a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	82% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	43% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	70% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	61% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	11% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	85% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Embalmers also assist with placing caskets in hearses and organize cemetery processions. They may also apply cosmetics to impart lifelike appearance to the deceased.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Embalmers Join lips, using needles and thread or wire. They might also Press diaphragm to evacuate air from lungs.

In addition, they Wash and dry bodies, using germicidal soap and towels or hot air dryers.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Attach trocar to pump-tube, start pump, and repeat probing to force embalming fluid into organs.

To some Embalmers, it is also their responsibility to Maintain records, such as itemized lists of clothing or valuables delivered with body and names of persons embalmed.

Working life

More than 40 hours per week

Irregular work schedule that changes depending on weather conditions, customer demand or contract duration.

In a typical work week as an Embalmer, you can expect to work more than 40 hours per week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They like working with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery..

They also like following set procedures and routines. They like working with data and details more than with ideas.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes394011.htm