Crematorium Technician here

[CodLiverOil556]

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.

[OhNoes]

Excellent thread, Kermit ~ I wouldn't have known about it if I hadn't seen it on the DM as I don't usually visit Classics. Have read all of it and it's been fascinating.

[Topseyt]

What a shame the dreadful Daily Fail have jumped in to spoil things.

Lazy journos who have little interest in either accuracy or in doing any proper work for themselves.

It is such a shame that there seems no way to stop them doing this. They are like vultures.

[OhNoes]

How have they actually spoilt it? They put a link in the article, so more people will have seen it. I do agree it's a bit lazy to copy and paste the content though.

[Ptlam]

You mentioned that one time there was a Bible that hadn’t suffered any damage. That is absolutely FASCINATING… It’s what we Christians call a MIRACLE. By any chance did you or can you find out anything about the deceased? Obviously Whoever it was -was faithful if they were buried with their Bible.

[Adarajames]

Nah, you get same effect if you try and burn phone directory, just easier fuel than condensed paper available.

Op you're a wonder, thank you

[Bluelady]

What an amazing thread. One of the best I've ever seen. Thank you so much, Kermit, people like you are worth your weight in gold and diamonds.

[BlackWatchBelle]

Just read your thread and its made me sob. I lost my mum to cancer 13 years ago but the comment about you being respectful to the end and saying goodbye meant so much. I hope the last person who cremated my mum was like you, I hope she was treated well, she was an awesome, amazing woman and I miss her every day.

[TellMeItsNotTrue]

I wasn't sure about opening this thread, but I saw it mentioned on a few others saying how good it was so I built up my courage and opened it

You see, I will be going through this again very shortly

It's actually been really reassuring and the opposite of how I expected it to feel, I am going to imagine you being the one to be there with my loved one, and that you were there in the past when I've gone through this. That you were there treating them with respect, referring to them by their name not a number, talking to them

A few years back I saw a hospital programme (don't normally watch them so may have been a news segment) about what happens when a patient dies in hospital, I had recently said goodbye to a loved one and went to switch it off but I felt compelled to watch. A porter new to the hospital referred to the body and a member of the team kindly corrected him and said he is still our patient. She looked at his folder and said this is Mr Smith (made up name as can't remember) so you can say the patient or you can say Mr Smith. Then they went through other processes and they were just so respectful of the deceased that it comforted me

This thread reminds me of that, and again has come at a time when it is of most use. I have felt more at ease with the hospital side of things since seeing that, and will now feel more at ease with the crem side of things

[PennyPickle]

I'm placemarking - sorry! I don't have time to read the full thread right now but what I have read is fascinating. Not sure if my question has already been answered. I'll read it fully this evening. Thank you for this Kermit.

[SoleBizzz]

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[SoleBizzz]

Hello Kermit When you see the bones, do you ever just think what is the point of life, the good and the bad?

[PennyPickle]

I thought long and hard before posting my question not to upset posters who may have recently deceased loved ones. If so please don't continue reading....

Kermit when I was around 14 someone told me that a young man, who lived in my street, went "mad" because he started a job at the local crem. Apparently he put a coffin through the fire jets and the body sat bolt upright and screamed.

Neighbours began discussing that when tendons get hot they tighten, causing the body to fold (therefore sit upright). The screaming was said to be the escape of gasses within the body. I found this very traumatic and the vision has never left me. I would be grateful if you could put my mind at rest please

[CodLiverOil556]

@SoleBizzz no I don't, sometimes I wonder if they had a good or bad life and hope they fulfilled it with everything they wanted to do

[CodLiverOil556]

@PennyPickle that is certainly a distressing image. It can happen as yes tendons, muscled can pull tight and make a body 'sit up' it's extremely rare though. I can imagine if it happened it would be quite scary and can only hope the guy had proper help through it.

[PennyPickle]

Eek! 🙀 Would the lid still be on the coffin at that point?

[CodLiverOil556]

@PennyPickle the lid normally opens up around 15 minutes into a cremation.

[PennyPickle]

There's no chance the body would have still been alive at that point? Please tell me no! .... I'm totally freaked out!

Is there any other way for a body to be disposed of other than burial or cremation please?

[CodLiverOil556]

@PennyPickle can absolutely guarantee that the person was not alive and that sort of thing is very rare. At the moment burial or cremation are the only options

[PennyPickle]

I'm very relieved to hear that there is no chance the person was still alive. It's bloody scary though.

What happens with an eco funeral? Is the person buried or cremated? I'm sorry I'm not up on these things. I tend to blank it out but I am now thinking about a funeral plan to save my children the headache when my time comes.

I have no idea what to choose! How do you know for certain the person in the coffin is dead?

I'm so sorry to question you. That image has been firmly planted in my subconscience. I can't get rid of it until I know 100% that a person is definitely dead going into the flames.

I have to attend the cremation of a friends child next Tuesday. I am so glad you have explained that the coffin doesn't go into the flames once it passes through the curtain. I would be bricking it otherwise so thank you for explaining that

[ilovepicasso]

Fantastic thread. Reading with interest.
Slightly distressing post now. I apologise if this upsets anyone or triggers memories. It's one of a few questions I've never had answered.

I am unfortunately a parent who has been affected by the baby ashes scandal in recent years.
Without going into too much detail I was told by the undertaker that following my daughters cremation ( she was full term and 3 days old. Weighing 6lb) there wouldn't be any ashes to return to us due to her size.

We've since found out this was lies and down to very very poor practice.

I do however wonder what quantity of ashes could have been returned to us?

[CodLiverOil556]

@PennyPickle 3 different doctors confirm the death.

@ilovepicasso I'm extremely sorry to hear about your little one. There would almost certainly be ashes left after that cremation...I would say a couple of handfuls at least. What were you told at the time?

[ilovepicasso]

Thank you @kermitrulesok for your reply. Means a lot.
We were told that because of her size there would have been nothing left at all. Because we had never been in this situation before, we just accepted that this was the case. We were told this by our undertaker. Obviously since then we've found out there were another 60+ families who had been told exactly the same. 😔 obviously there is nothing we can do now but it still makes me so angry when I think about it. I have no idea what happened to her ashes.

[CodLiverOil556]

Having read into the ashes scandal it sounds like babies were cremated with adults which is shocking and many lessons have been learned.

We cremate babies separately and even with the non viable foetuses there's always ashes even if it's only a teaspoon full we endeavour to collect the ashes by using a pestle and mortar to cremulate the remains.

[brotherphil]

I stumbled upon the American video posted upthread and found it very upsetting after an aunt died.
Looking at some of the details - the deceased arriving in shrouds, and the face masks and that sort of thing - I suspect that that may well have been some sort of special circumstances, like there being a large number of unidentified bodies after a disaster. There was a sort of matter-of-factness about the process that didn't seem to fit with the usual funerary practices.

[Toptheginup]

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