The family began the process of planning his funeral. His death was sudden and his life had touched many people. The funeral would be large. There would be lots of hugging, kissing, crying and hand-holding. People would travel in from out of state to attend. Meals would be shared. The family would be enveloped in support.
Then came the COVID-19 guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention restricting groups over 250 from gathering. Then 50. Now 10. The funeral director was torn between following the guidelines and helping the family.
“Our hearts are aching in not being able to help people in the way that we are trained to do,” said Richard Purcell, owner of Holcomb-Henry-Boom-Purcell funeral home in St. Paul.
Purcell said despite the guidelines, he had no intention of telling the family they couldn’t mourn their loved one. In the end, he didn’t have to.
“The church was feeling uncomfortable having a social gathering given the fact of the state of affairs regarding COVID-19,” he said. The memorial would be moved to a later, undetermined date. There would still be a visitation, but the funeral home would limit the amount of people gathering with the family by having the mourners take turns.
VIRTUAL CONDOLENCES AND WEBCASTING
Chris Robinson, owner of Robinson Funeral Home in Easley, S.C., is also a board member for the National Funeral Directors Association. He’s seen other families break up the traditional funeral process, hoping to give their loved one a proper send off once the virus crisis is past.
“One of the families we’re currently serving is very active in the community and well known,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking because they can’t have a meaningful ceremony at this time. They’ve elected to have a private graveside service now, and later, when the ban is lifted, they will have a memorial service and visitation.”
GRIEF INTERRUPTED
Purcell said prolonging the grieving process will be hard on families.
“Psychologically there’s a need for basic human support,” he said. “People are still experiencing grief and loss and the need for sharing and having the comfort of friends and family and loved ones. That is very healing and therapeutic. That interaction is a gift. You can’t get it virtually. You can’t get it without being present.”
Robinson said funeral staff are struggling with giving comfort.
“We take this very seriously,” he said. “We have to work a balancing act. We have posted signs throughout our building about avoiding personal contact like shaking hands and hugging. I saw something somewhere where a smile or a nod is not the same, but it kind of gets the message across that you’re concerned, but you’re also respectful of the health environment. Sometimes I do a slight bow just to let them know I’m not being rude.”
EMBALMING THE INFECTED
Funeral directors have more on their minds than helping the grieving, such as how to deal with the remains of those who died from COVID-19 and what to do if there’s an outbreak that strains their resources.
On March 16, the CDC had a phone conference with the NFDA hoping to answer questions funeral directors may have regarding embalming, keeping their staff safe, how to handle bodies coming in from overseas and guidelines for visitations.
At this time, the CDC states there is currently no known risk associated with being in the same room at a funeral or visitation service with the body of someone who died of COVID-19, but adds that people should consider not touching the body of someone who has died of the virus.
Those who are ill and at-risk, such as the elderly and immune-compromised, should be encouraged to stay home. Funeral homes are encouraged to urge attendees to practice social distancing, hand hygiene and covering coughs and sneezes.
WORST CASE SCENARIO
And what happens if there is an outbreak that overwhelms funeral homes? That’s where the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams or DMORTs, come in.
DMORTs are composed of funeral directors, medical examiners, pathologists, forensic anthropologists, finger print specialists, forensic odontologists, dental assistants, administrative specialists, and security specialists. They are deployed to supplement federal, state, local, tribal and territorial resources at the request of local authorities.
DMORTs, which fall under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, are activated in response to large scale disasters to assist in the identification of deceased individuals and storage of the bodies pending the bodies being claimed.
The teams were organized in the 1980s by the NFDA and were activated during the 9/11 disaster. In 2006, the teams operated the Find Family National Call Center in Baton Rouge, La. during Hurrricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita helping to locate the 13,000 people reported missing.
Robinson said they are all hoping that things will not develop into a health crisis like Italy and China have experienced.
“It’s a tough time,” he said. “But the situation could become very severe if we don’t follow these guidelines now.”
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