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Original poster

Crematorium Technician here

686 replies

CodLiverOil556 · 31/05/2018 13:11

I see lots of threads about cremations and Crematoria. I'm currently a crem tech so please ask me questions and I will endeavor to answer them.

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AintNobodyHereButUsChickens · 02/06/2018 14:11

I had a termination several years ago, I'd assumed the baby would just be incinerated as medical waste but it comforts me to know that it probably ended up being cremated. I'd kind of like to ring the hospital and find out but I'm not sure what ward I was on, nor what date it was.

AintNobodyHereButUsChickens · 02/06/2018 14:01

What time of day do you start cremating? Straight after the first service of the day or a bit later on?

Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 02/06/2018 13:48

@FuelledByButter my working hours are 9-5 but if we've had a late service or a lot then we don't finish til we've finished and that can sometimes be early hours but we're back at 9 the next day regardless.

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Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 02/06/2018 13:47

@BloominMarvelous I've never felt anyone but have felt like I wasn't alone. It was very peaceful and I said hi to whoever it was.

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SlightAggrandising · 02/06/2018 13:45

jenasaurus do you really think they recycle medical devices Hmm.

Several people have posted links to a news article about recycling metal. RTFT and you'll see what happens to them.

CarefullyAirbrushedPotato · 02/06/2018 13:41

Yes @ILoveKermit . Not viable. No bones

SexyManatee · 02/06/2018 12:37

Jen, I'd imagine that the metal is melted down and recycled for all sorts of purposes. Rather than going from one body to another in the same shape. I could be wrong though!

Jenasaurus · 02/06/2018 12:28

you say that my titanium bar in my leg may be recycled after I die, does that mean the one I have was probably in somebody else before?

FuelledByButter · 02/06/2018 12:26

Hi Kermit, another person who lost a parent recently and is finding this and the FD thread very informative and comforting.
What are your working hours then if you sometimes have cremations into the early hours of the morning? Do you work shifts?

BloominMarvelous · 02/06/2018 12:21

Hi Kermit thank you for a wonderful thread helping lots of people. I just have one question as I know you wish your charges well when they go on their way but do you 'feel' any of them there as if they've come to witness their own cremation and does this pass after the process as if they've passed over? Just before my father passed he asked for the window to be opened, then he died so we feel the transition happened then.

sprot · 02/06/2018 12:08

Wow just finished reading
Thank you for such an informative post

DontCallMeBaby · 02/06/2018 10:56

Thank you for this Kermit, it’s been fascinating. My dad deceived last weekend to update me on his plans for his and my mum’s wills, and funeral plans. He wants a direct cremation, so this has been a reminder to do a little research into that. Though, as he says, funerals are for the living, so if he goes first we’ll do (within reason) whatever my mum wants.

Regarding the American video linked above, I recently read Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, and that, while also American, is a LOT more like Kermit’s description of her work than it is the video. Heartily recommended, at least until Kermit writes her own book!

Irksomeness · 02/06/2018 10:36

Apparently you can buy coffins in some supermarkets in South Africa.

Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 02/06/2018 10:34

@MummySparkle they sound exactly what you're looking for. Please do have a google and if you're unsure about the way it works please ask.

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Stilllivinginazoo · 02/06/2018 10:25

Thank you for such a reassuring thread
It's only when you stop and think you realise there are some very special people out there who care for people even after death.appreciate the honesty and the openess of your threadFlowers

Sevendown · 02/06/2018 10:24

Fascinating.

I’ve said to dp we can talk to our parents about this as they all want as little fuss as possible.

I feel bad about my DGF he wanted buried in the family plot but DGM just cremated him instead.

MummySparkle · 02/06/2018 10:16

Kermit thank you. The two circled coffins were pine / pine and bamboo. The rest were wicker or cardboard. They're all from an eco-coffin company, but it's really interesting to learn that for cremation some are more eco than others.

I think I'm going to look up some videos / diagrams of how a cremator & cremulator works.

Thank you so much for this thread, your responses have been so polite and insightful

www.ecoffins.co.uk/products.aspx

TamiTayorismyparentingguru · 02/06/2018 09:33

Thank you for taking the time to answer kermit I really appreciate it. I am rather glad that the tumours don’t survive and that I misunderstood you!

Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 02/06/2018 09:13

@Flatteryontheside I do indeed mean metal hips/knees/pins/plates. We would never remove any bones only metal.

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Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 02/06/2018 09:11

@TamiTayorismyparentingguru the tumours do burn away to nothing but they take a long time to do so. The only thing we rake out of a cremator is calcified bone and maybe a tiny bit of coffin.

We are not allowed to rake out until the last flicker of orange flame has died out and sometimes we're waiting an extra 20 minutes for this to happen.

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Flatteryontheside · 02/06/2018 09:09

If hips and knees and big pieces can’t go in the cremulator how do they get ground to ashes? Unless of course you mean metal joints.

Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 02/06/2018 09:08

@user1473460538 yes calcified bones and tiny amount of coffin

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Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 02/06/2018 09:07

@ThanksForAllTheFish I'm a naturally optimistic person and I do have to take a step back from my job mentally. Sometimes when we have had a sad one (young baby/child/suicide) we discuss it in the office and make sure we're all alright.

My job makes me live each day as if it's my last. You really never know what's round the corner and I also don't sweat the small stuff.

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Original poster
CodLiverOil556 · 02/06/2018 09:03

@CarefullyAirbrushedPotato sorry I should have clarified when I said big pieces I was referring to metals. When someone has had big pieces during an operation for example.

We get ashes from babys they still have tiny bones and they go in for not very long at all.

Was your baby an NVF (before 24 weeks gestation)

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