The current research surveyed 42 funeral homes operated by medical facilities to examine cadaver transporters, cadaver transportation methods, information relay between employees, and cadaver sanitization and obtained the following results.
First, the sample consists of 42 funeral homes with an average of 74.6 funerals per month. There was an overall average of 34.1 funerals conducted for those who passed away in the medical facility. The funeral homes in Seoul District had higher number of funerals for those who passed away at the medical facility compared to the overall average, but the mortality rate within the medical facilities in Seoul District was lower on average. On the contrary, Incheon & Gyeonggi District and South Chungcheong District had low average number of funerals, but the mortality rate in the medical facility was similar or slightly higher than the average; there were some variation among the Districts.
Secondly, if the death occurred within the medical facility, 71.4 % of respondents in charge carried out the transportation of the cadaver. If the cadaver was transported from an external facility, the partner employee was responsible for the transportation. 71.4% of the time, the cadaver was transported, stored, and wrapped and placed the coffin by various workers throughout the process.
Third, regarding information relay, 52.4% of cadavers were attached with a death certificate including personal information during transportation and there was 57.1% caution and details provided for infectious bodies. Only 14.3% of the cadaver was transported with a death certificate; 85.7% of the time, the death certificate was presented after the body was transported and stored.
95.2%, employee from the funeral insurance company acquired information regarding the deceased individuals through the relative' s possession of the death certificate. The information regarding infectious bodies was obtained in advance through the funeral home employee or the notice on the bulletin board in the office.
Fourth, 33.3% of the time, nurses or health care professional cleaned the cadaver in advance, 90.5% of cases consisted of the funeral instructor sanitizing the cadaver after the transportation during storing of the cadaver.
Therefore, regarding those who passed away in the hospital, most funeral instructors transported the cadavers without proper accompaniment of death certificates. Especially if an external employee handled the cadaver, the information relay regarding the cause of death was inadequate.
Based on the collected data, the following is suggested for the proper transportation of deceased individuals within the hospital:
First, when transporting the body, doctors must attach an appropriate tag with the personal information, cause of death, and caution for infection- if applicable- to the cadaver as soon as the information is available.
Secondly, the transportation of the cadaver must be completed through certified individuals who have been properly trained to do so. It is suggested to sanitize the cadaver after recognizing the cause of death.
Third, although the employees vary during the transportation and funeral process, there should be a properly documented, systematic and unified method of information relay so the next worker can easily have access to the information.