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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: August 5th, 2023

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  • I’m immunocompromised and still mask indoors. I haven’t been sick at all since 2020 and it’s awesome! Between 40-60% of people have some form of permanent brain damage and 70-80% have long covid problems from Covid. The damage to the body compounds every time a person gest re-infected, so the numbers are terrifyingly high.

    I have a postmortem science degree and it required 4 years of pre-med/pathology. With all that and what we know about the virus, I am honestly not sure I’ll stop wearing a mask indoors until we find a cure or better vaccine. I can’t stand that politicians are trying to ban masks, essentially sacrificing the elderly, disabled, and ill. A government making medical decisions, creating an environment where a person can’t mask up, regardless of if they have cancer and want to stay safe; or if they’re severely sick with something else but need to pick up medication at a pharmacy… it’s dark. It’s fucked up



  • I’m a mortician/postmortem scientist, who used to run the WSU Funeral History Museum. Based on my research, I don’t think humans could exist without some type of religion/code/customs. As long as there has been death, even in ancient/prehistoric times, humans have been doing specific procedures, to say goodbye to their fallen loved ones.

    There’s writings in almost every culture that teach us about what these civilizations believed, and some are beautiful, while others are kindof terrifying, but it all wrapped around people trying to cope with death.

    Even if we found out complete proof for what actually happens when you die and after death, some people are still going to prefer their religion’s ideas because it brings them more peace. Death seems to be the clinch pin for all religions, and I honestly don’t think we’d have religion, if we didn’t understand the concept of death. People just want something to believe in.

    Now, the garbage parts of religion are created by people seeking power, money, and control, and as long as there’s those who desire to conquer others, religion will be made up and used as a scapegoat, as to why certain people deserve power.


  • Shelbyeileen@lemmy.worldtoScience Memes@mander.xyzCompost
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    2 months ago

    What you’ve said is true. In my forensics class, we learned that police can actually use plants to find dead bodies, because you can see a noticeable oval of healthier plant growth. Older cemeteries flourish. There’s a few stories from the Neolithic Era about planting crops on the deceased, both humans and animals, but it’s mostly been erased from history. It wouldn’t surprise me if it’s happened during Famines or situations like the dust bowl where civilizations weren’t rotating crops and depleted the soil.


  • Shelbyeileen@lemmy.worldtoScience Memes@mander.xyzCompost
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    2 months ago

    We have a break room, and some people pack food from home? Morbid fact; if a decedent who has excess weight, gets cremated; the whole building smells like bacon. I remember walking in one day, (at my first job that had a crematory retort inside) and was so excited thinking our boss had bought us breakfast… nope… I gave up bacon for over 2 years.


  • Shelbyeileen@lemmy.worldtoScience Memes@mander.xyzCompost
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    2 months ago

    Mortician here! This is, luckily not true. Recomposition is already legal in several states and they’ve had massive success with it. The national and state forests that received the recomposted remains are thriving. The only downside (for some people) is that the person who passed cannot be embalmed, and in most states, that means it’s illegal to have an open casket visitation to the public. Most states have laws that family can see their loved one without embalming if it’s been less than 48 hours after death, but they need liability waivers. The public, however, cannot be a part of an open casket funeral, unless the deceased has been embalmed and sterilized. Closed caskets are fine at any stage. They make hermetically sealing ones that lock in the decomposition smell and keep people safe.


  • Shelbyeileen@lemmy.worldtoScience Memes@mander.xyzCompost
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    2 months ago

    Mortician here!

    Recomposition (or Natural Organic Reduction) is already legal in several states: California, Washington, Vermont, Oregon and Colorado!

    As of right now, I think the compost is only allowed in national and state parks, but they’re doing testing on farms to check if there’s dangers to us consuming the crops and it’s been very successful and safe.

    Most diseases and viruses can’t survive the composting heat and the plants are thriving. It uses 87% less energy than cremation and burial and stops embalming fluids from leaking into our ground water. I’m really glad this is an option.

    There’s a scam company that claims you can put cremated remains in the ground and grow a tree… yeah, cremated remains turn into concrete when wet and the heat of cremation denatures nearly everything beneficial for plants. We constantly have to tell people not to put cremated remains on plants or the plants will join the family member that passed…


  • You’re correct, I should have chosen the words better. I had the same classes as doctors for years and had to compete with them for grades, but my courses veered once the classes went onto curing people. (It’s a bit too late to cure them, by the time they get to us 😅)

    After that, was 4 semesters of postmortem science classes revolving around pathology, chemistry, embalming, biohazard protection, forensics, facial reconstruction; and the weird ones like funeral law/insurance, history of death, customs and religions, psychology of death and dying. I love doing reconstructions and creating prosthetics to match a photo when a person is too decomposed or injured. Giving people the chance to say goodbye and have closure is really rewarding.


  • I get what you’re saying, but I respectfully disagree. I don’t think you understand the course load/requirements for this degree. It might be different for different schools, so I’m happy to elaborate. First of, ignore pre-reqs, like math/english/computer/etc. and let’s just talk science. My university was one of the top in the nation and I was required to take the same courses as doctors for years; I had to compete with them for my grades (bell curves suck); the only difference was that my courses changed direction when it got to classes regarding curing/treating people. You don’t need that for a postmortem science degree, so the next 4 semesters went into strictly death related education.

    My university had us thoroughly trained on any potential medical risks, biohazards, and hospital procedures. We were dissecting, helping with autopsies, learning forensics and pathology, training in everything regarding the heart and vascular system, and don’t get me started on all the chemistry/physiology… yes, the courses veered, to avoid teaching us how to cure someone, but that does not take away that we go through medical school.

    We are trained to be the last line of defense for catching crimes and doctor’s mistakes; we have continuing education alongside doctors, nurses, and pathologists; we have to work with people who’ve died of dangerous diseases and protect the public… we just don’t have to worry about curing a corpse. If you’ve actually read this, please start your reply with the word autopsy.



  • Lawmakers rarely update laws. Disability(SSI) hasn’t changed since 1974. The medicaid asset limit is $2,000. If you EVER have more than $2k in your bank, you lose your medical insurance and food. You can’t even pay rent/bills for that small amount. If adjusted for inflation, that $2k would be $13k. That’s enough to pay bills, that’s enough to put a deposit down on a home, that’s enough to do some of the things you could do in 1974 with $2k.

    I contacted a Michigan representative about this, and was told they keep the asset limits so low so that only the severely destitute get it… but even the severely destitute can’t afford their bills. SSI pays a whopping $11k a YEAR if you’re permanently disabled, even though they can’t work and paid taxes to protect themselves.

    I’m a disability advocate, so very passionate about this.




  • We have to take additional courses and pass every year, as well as take pandemic response training and mass death psychology/procedure. I even got trained for the ebola outbreak 10 years ago. 2 years of pre-med, 2 years of medical and postmortem science, and a residency which is a minimum of a year, but often longer as it’s based on tasks you have to do. A specified amount of autopsied cases, military cases, decomposition, etc. Then you have to pass your state and LARA exams.
    The curriculum included classes for psychology, reconstructive cosmetology, and business law too. I’m a Jill of all trades 😅



  • The county coroner is an ELECTED position.

    I’m a mortician who’s worked substantially with autopsies. To be the county coroner, you do not need a degree, you do not need experience in mortuary science, postmortem science, forensics, pathology, NOTHING. All you need to be the county coroner, is to be popular.

    Meanwhile, funeral directors in the USA need to go through years of college and continuing education, because we’re literally the last line of defense when coroners/doctors screw up. I’ve caught dozens of mistakes the coroner has made and I’m sick of it. The most recently was a shaken and bruised baby having cause of death listed as SIDS.

    I no longer blindly trust autopsies for accurate cause of death. If the mortician needs 4 years of medical school, the freaking county coroner would should be required for at LEAST that to be elected.