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A coroner is an individual who establishes the reason behind a person's death.
Coroners may have a medical degree and work as medical doctors. But, the requirements for becoming a local coroner are set by states and local jurisdictions. You may come across many different roles under this umbrella due to varying standards.
What are the duties of a coroner?
The specific role and location determine the key responsibilities of a coroner. Most coroners generally perform a combination of the following:
- Declaring death: Similar to doctors or other medical professionals, coroners are legally authorized to pronounce death.
- Cause of death: Coroners primarily determine the cause of death, including natural, homicide, accidental, and other causes.
- Death certificate: Coroners can complete and file the death certificate.
- Death records: Coroners at a local coroner's office are responsible for ensuring precise death records for the community.
- Court proceedings: The coroner may be requested to present findings in a court of law if there is an investigation into the cause of death.
- Death investigation: If there is an investigation, law enforcement and medical professionals may work with coroners, who are sometimes requested to examine the cause of death.
Where do coroners work?
Coroners, unlike others in the death-care industry, usually work in offices that are not accessible to the public. They could be employed in a court, morgue, or as members of law enforcement agencies.
Coroners typically work in private offices, where they manage documents, death certificates, and investigations. There are many administrative tasks that take place within a traditional office, and handling human remains is only a part of the job.
What’s a mortician?
A mortician is someone who handles the planning of funerals, burials, cremations, and the preparation of the body for its final resting place.
The dead are often directly handled by morticians who embalm the body or apply cosmetics for viewings. On both federal and state levels, there exists a licensing board. However, morticians are neither licensed medical professionals nor doctors.
What are the duties of morticians?
Morticians undertake various tasks within funeral homes. While some may lead a team, others may work individually to accomplish all the tasks listed below:
- Transport the body: After a death, morticians are usually the first to be called, making them known as “last responders.” The transportation of the body from the place of death (hospital, home, etc.) to the funeral home is handled by them.
- Embalming: Morticians prepare the body for burial by cleaning it, using special embalming chemicals, and creating a preserved, lifelike appearance for families who choose to embalm.
- Paperwork: They assist the family and funeral directors handle administrative tasks such as filing for death certificates and completing paperwork.
- Funeral planning: The first point of contact for families when planning a funeral, burial, and final resting place are morticians.
- Grief: Morticians are also equipped to handle grief. This is because they are able to handle the emotional impact of the situation.
Where do morticians work?
Funeral homes are where morticians work. They work directly with the public and families of all backgrounds there. Funeral directors can operate their own practice, work for national chains, or work under a more experienced funeral director.
Working with families, planning memorial events, and so on, is how morticians spend the majority of their time. A smaller percentage of the time is spent working directly with the dead, although there is also an element of the work that involves it.
FAQs
Do coroners and morticians work together?
Coroners and morticians, despite having different roles, may collaborate in handling a deceased body. After the completion of the coroner's investigation and the release of the body, the mortician takes charge of preparing the body for either a funeral or a cremation.
Can a mortician declare a death?
Typically, a mortician does not have the authority to make an official declaration of death. A medical professional such as a doctor, or a Coroner in cases of unexpected or suspicious deaths, typically fulfills that role.
Does a coroner or a mortician determine whether an autopsy is necessary?
A coroner or a medical examiner, not a mortician, makes the decision to conduct an autopsy. Performing autopsies is done to establish the reason for death, particularly in situations where the death occurred abruptly, without warning, or probably as a result of illegal actions.
Are undertakers and morticians different?
In the funeral industry, the terms undertaker and mortician are often used interchangeably. Although there may be regional or historical variations in their usage, they generally refer to the same role in contemporary times.
Typically, they embalm and prepare bodies for funerals, arrange transportation for the deceased, and coordinate funeral services and burials or cremations as part of their duties. During the grieving process, they frequently offer assistance to families who have lost a loved one.
What kind of training does a mortician need?
Earning a degree in mortuary science and passing the licensing examination is typically required for those aspiring to become morticians. They undergo an apprenticeship program under the direction of an experienced funeral director.
Could an individual perform duties as both a mortician and a coroner simultaneously?
Even though performing both functions at once is possible from a technical standpoint, it is unusual because of the unique set of skills and responsibilities associated with every role.
Is being a coroner a dangerous job?
Exposure risks like catching an infectious disease exist for coroners despite their job being relatively safe, so to stay safe while conducting autopsies coroners wear protective clothing as a preventive measure.
