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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

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

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

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

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.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
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.
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.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
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.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
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.
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.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
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.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
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.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
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.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
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.
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.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
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.
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.
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.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
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.
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.
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.
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:

Stress Tolerance
Self-Control
Integrity
Attention to Detail
Dependability
Sincerity

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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