With the United States average for cremation registering around 45 percent and rising each year, it is a large part of the death care industry. And in the death care business, cremation is also the area leading loss and litigation. Making a mistake could cost your firm $1 million and advertising that you can’t pay for and don’t want.

  To ensure the deceased entrusted to your firm is the same as the cremated remains returned to the authorized agent, checks should be performed at 10 identification verification stages.

  Both crematories that service funeral homes and funeral homes or societies that use third-party crematories should use this procedure. Crematories that perform cremations for other funeral homes or societies should verify they have identification procedures in place within areas the funeral homes or societies do not control, as well as verify that the funeral home or society has identification verification procedures in place within areas outside of the crematory’s control.

  Reciprocally, the same is true for funeral homes and societies using third-party crematories; they should verify they are using identification procedures in each of the relevant stages, as well as verify the crematory uses identification verification procedures in stages under the crematory’s control.

  Do not use a firm that does not have proper identification procedures in place. When the existing identification procedures are not sufficient, it is important to make a business decision to select a different crematory.

1.    Place of death by funeral director

  When a death occurs, the removal staff needs to verify the deceased they are taking into their care is the one they have been requested to remove. Many deaths occur without identification attached to the deceased; to reduce misidentification the following procedures should be implemented immediately if you do not currently require identification placed on the deceased when making the removal. Even if your funeral home does follow that practice, the following guidelines should be incorporated into the policy:

•     Use waterproof identification bands made of tear-resistant material. It should be impossible to remove the band by any method other than cutting.

•     Keep identification bands in each removal vehicle. If an outside removal service is used, furnish the service with a supply of identification bands for their removal vehicles.

•     Write the information on the identification band using a pen with indelible ink (i.e., a Sharpie.) At a minimum, include the full name of the deceased and date of death. This information must be clearly printed.

•     Under no circumstances should the deceased’s name or other information be written on the arms, legs, or any other part of the body.

•     Before attaching the funeral home identification band, the deceased must be identified. This can be accomplished by a preexisting identification band, a relative or a person who knew the deceased, an employee of the hospital or nursing home, etc. It is important that the name of the deceased corresponds with all existing paperwork.

•     Attach the identification band on the deceased at the place of death. Even if there is other identification on the deceased, the band should still be attached. And, if possible, do not remove the other form of identification.

•     Place the identification band around the deceased’s ankle, or around the wrist if an ankle can’t be used. In the event the deceased is in a disaster pouch, securely attach the identification band to the pouch.

•     Never remove the identification band once it has been attached.

2.    Family identification at funeral home

  Does your firm require or just offer the option to have positive identification before cremation? Believe it or not, there are still firms not requiring positive identification because it takes too much time! In today’s death care world it is no longer an option; it needs to be required of the families selecting direct cremation as their method of disposition for their loved one. Remember, cremation is an irreversible process and once started cannot be reversed.

  Positive identification by viewing must be required for many reasons. Of course, the identification process cannot be accomplished by viewing in some cases, such as with fetuses, advanced decomposition, or a person who died in a fire. Other methods of identification may be needed in other circumstances as well. But special circumstances aside, the visual identification process must take place.

  A firm cannot be selective on whom they do the positive identification. This policy needs to be standard on all cremation cases that are not having a private or public viewing. This identification must always take place at the funeral home and not at the residence or other place of death. The reason for this is there could be a misidentification with other human remains at your location by your staff.

  Before the family identification takes place it is critical that the attached identification band on the deceased be verified by the staff.

  The most appropriate and efficient way to have the identification take place is in the container/casket selected by the authorizing agent(s). There are two reasons for this: The first is the family will know that the container/casket they selected is the receptacle that their loved one will be cremated in. The second is that this procedure establishes one less move of the human remains by the funeral home; when the human remains are identified on a dressing table then wheeled back to the embalming room or refrigeration unit, the human remains could be mistaken with another.

  In a perfect world, the person making the positive identification would be the spouse, child or parent of the deceased. However, sometimes an in-law, clergy member or another person who knew the deceased will make the identification. The closer the relationship between the identifier and the deceased, the lower the risk is for a misidentification.

3.    Identification before leaving funeral home to crematory

  Before the deceased is transferred to the crematory there needs to be verification that all the paperwork has been completed. Once the paperwork has been verified, two staff members should further verify the name on the paperwork matches with the identification placed on the deceased at the time of the removal.

  The name of the deceased should also be on the head end of the container going to the crematory. If a casket was selected, the name can be written on masking tape and placed on the head end of the casket. Again, the name on the container should be the same as on all the paperwork. If the paperwork has “James” it should not say “Jimmy” or “Jim” on the container.

  This column will be continued in the November issue.