What do I do when someone passes away?

 

The death of a family member or someone close can be a time of grief but also an opportunity to show one’s leadership and organization skills. Every family is different and every situation is unique unto itself but there are a few things to think about and take into consideration:

• How prepared the immediate family is for this event

• What religion, if any, did the deceased follow and is it the same as the surviving family members

• Was this a natural death or are there extenuating circumstances that need reporting

There are immediate steps that will have to be taken:

If the death occurred at home under the care of a nurse have them declare the death, if they are registered to do so.  This is usually the case under hospice care.  The nurse can also help facilitate the transport of the body.

If the death occurred unexpectedly then you will need to call 911 at which point the attending paramedics will request either a “Do-not-resuscitate document or Health Care Proxy allowing the designated person to either allow for extra efforts or not.  At this point the paramedics would take the body to the hospital in order to have the attending doctor pronounce the death.  Another option would be to call the decedent’s physician in order for him or her to pronounce the death.  This may circumvent the need for the trip to the hospital along with an autopsy, at which point the body can be delivered directly to a mortuary for preparation for the funeral.  The mortuary can usually provide transportation.

Either way, the decedent’s doctor or county coroner would need to be notified.

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If you are at all unclear about the initial steps. call 911, then your lawyer. Or depending upon the circumstances you can reverse the order.

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At this point we invite you to take a look at our very affordable subscription HERE                 .  ET provides state-specific guidance along with direct links to government sites for up to date rules, regulations ,documents and contact information. The ET calendar function can be especially helpful in this situation as it provides step-by-step tasks, due dates and more.

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