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Embalmers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Prepare bodies for interment in conformity with legal requirements.

Related: Crematory Operators Funeral Attendants Funeral Home Managers Licensed Practical & Licensed Vocational Nurses Morticians, Undertakers, & Funeral Arrangers

Industries: Service

Summary
Details

Arrange funeral home equipment and perform general maintenance.
Maintain records, such as itemized lists of clothing or valuables delivered with body and names of persons embalmed.
Incise stomach and abdominal walls and probe internal organs, using trocar, to withdraw blood and waste matter from organs.
Attach trocar to pump-tube, start pump, and repeat probing to force embalming fluid into organs.
Join lips, using needles and thread or wire.
Pack body orifices with cotton saturated with embalming fluid to prevent escape of gases or waste matter.
Insert convex celluloid or cotton between eyeballs and eyelids to prevent slipping and sinking of eyelids.
Direct casket and floral display placement and arrange guest seating.
Make incisions in arms or thighs and drain blood from circulatory system and replace it with embalming fluid, using pump.
Arrange for transporting the deceased to another state for interment.
Assist coroners at death scenes or at autopsies, file police reports, and testify at inquests or in court, if employed by a coroner.
Press diaphragm to evacuate air from lungs.
Clean and disinfect areas in which bodies are prepared and embalmed.
Reshape or reconstruct disfigured or maimed bodies when necessary, using dermasurgery techniques and materials such as clay, cotton, plaster of Paris, and wax.
Clean and disinfect areas in which bodies are prepared and embalmed.
Assist with placing caskets in hearses and organize cemetery processions.
Conform to laws of health and sanitation and ensure that legal requirements concerning embalming are met.
Dress bodies and place them in caskets.
Close incisions, using needles and sutures.
Perform the duties of funeral directors, including coordinating funeral activities.
Conduct interviews to arrange for the preparation of obituary notices, to assist with the selection of caskets or urns, and to determine the location and time of burials or cremations.
Direct casket and floral display placement and arrange guest seating.
Assist with placing caskets in hearses and organize cemetery processions.
Apply cosmetics to impart lifelike appearance to the deceased.
Wash and dry bodies, using germicidal soap and towels or hot air dryers.
Arrange funeral home equipment and perform general maintenance.
Serve as pallbearers, attend visiting rooms, and provide other assistance to the bereaved.
Assist coroners at death scenes or at autopsies, file police reports, and testify at inquests or in court, if employed by a coroner.
Supervise funeral attendants and other funeral home staff.
Assist coroners at death scenes or at autopsies, file police reports, and testify at inquests or in court, if employed by a coroner.
Remove the deceased from place of death and transport to funeral home.
Perform special procedures necessary for remains that are to be transported to other states or overseas, or where death was caused by infectious disease.

Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Speaking
- Talking to others.

Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Education

Associate's degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

More than 1 year on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

64480/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

31/hr

Currently Employed

Yearly Projected Openings

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Dependability
Integrity
Attention to Detail
Self Control
Concern for Others
Stress Tolerance

Air brushes
Autopsy fluid collection vacuum aspirators or tubing
Autopsy head rests
Autopsy knives or blades
Autopsy saws
Cadaver lifter or transfer devices
Centrifugal pumps
Chemical pumps
Desktop computers
Embalming cavity injectors
Embalming injecting tubes
Embalming injector needles
Embalming vein drainage tubes
Eyewashers or eye wash stations
Finger ring removers or cutters
Footwear covers
Goggles
Hair care supplies
Hypodermic needle
Makeup kits
Manicure implements
Medical body bags
Medical exam or non surgical procedure gloves
Morgue cabinet refrigerators
Mortuary aspirators
Notebook computers
Operating room patient positioning devices for general use
Ophthalmic surgical knives or blades
Paint sprayers
Personal computers
Postmortem incision clips
Postmortem needles
Protective coveralls
Protective hood
Steam autoclaves or sterilizers
Surgical clamps or clips or forceps
Surgical isolation or surgical masks
Surgical needle holders
Surgical scalpels or knives or blades or trephines
Surgical scissors
Surgical shave kits or prep razors or clippers
Surgical trocars for general use
Suture needles

Data base user interface and query software
Internet browser software
Office suite software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

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