Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024
Section 6-1-23 - Identifying dead human bodies23.1. A funeral establishment shall develop, implement, and maintain a written procedure for identification of a dead human body or cremated remains whereby the body or cremated remains can be identified from the time the funeral establishment accepts delivery of the body or cremated remains until the body or cremated remains are released to an authorized representative or buried. Documentation of identification includes but is not limited to; disks or other tags and paper evidence.23.2. If the remains are cremated remains, the funeral establishment shall inspect the cremated remains to determine if documentation of identification has been placed within or on the cremated remains container. If the funeral establishment finds that no documentation exists, the funeral director shall contact the crematory which performed the cremation immediately to inform the crematory of the error. The funeral establishment shall not be responsible for correcting the error. Rather, the crematory shall determine the identification of the cremated remains and place the documentation within the cremated remains container.23.3. For all other remains, the funeral establishment shall inspect the remains for identification. If the funeral establishment finds mat no documentation exists, the funeral director shall contact the person who released the body to the funeral establishment to inform him or her of the error. The funeral establishment shall not be responsible for correcting the error, except that the authorized representative should confirm the identity of the deceased person, if possible or feasible.23.4. If the funeral establishment retrieves a deceased human body from a family residence or similar living quarters in which it would be inappropriate to tag the body out of respect of the family members or other residents, the funeral establishment may place the identification documents on the body upon arrival at the funeral establishment.23.5. The funeral establishment shall permanently tag a deceased human body or the casket which contains a body, but only after the embalmer disinfects the body. The Board shall allow the funeral establishment discretion regarding what type of tag to use, so long as the tag is permanent and will not decay, decompose, or otherwise breakdown. Paper tags are permissible if protected from decomposition.23.6. The funeral establishment shall report their own identification errors to the Board within five (5) business days. The funeral establishment which received the body from another institution which made the error shall not be responsible for reporting the error.