Inside a Mortuary

    I have been asked a few times about what a mortuary is like.  Few people have seen a mortuary in person.  The only time most of us have any experience with a mortuary or morgue is on TV.  I tell people the mortuary isn't really like what is show on TV.  But this leaves people with a puzzled look, wondering "well, what is it like then?"

    Here are a collection of pictures I took inside a funeral home mortuary.  As well as a few videos and other things  by others which show a mortuary.

    The first few pictures were taken by me at a funeral home mortuary in Sydney.  Many of the photos will be blurry.  They were taken with an iPhone, not a proper camera and taken quickly in poor lighting.

    Here are some more photos from inside another mortuary.

Door into the mortuary.  Gloves are always put on before entering.

Garage entrance to the mortuary.
This is where the transfers are brought through.

    Gloves are kept next to each door inside the mortuary.  This means one never has to reach far for a glove and if one box runs out there will always be another ready box nearby.

Gloves are placed by every door, in and out of the mortuary.

    The mortuary fridge is a large room which can hold two or more bodies at a time.  It must always be between 1 and 5 degrees Celsius.  This door is fairly typical of a mortuary fridge door.  Large metal handle which is pulled to open the door.

Door to the fridge.

    Inside the fridge is basically a large concrete room.  The trays with body on top are kept at the end, straight in front of the door.  The coffins with bodies inside are kept along the wall, to the right of the door.

    Unfortunately I do not have any photos of inside a mortuary fridge.  This might violate privacy or be unappreciated by the funeral home so I chose not to take or post these kind of photos just yet.  Maybe one day with permission I can show what it is like inside the fridge.

    The lids are kept off the coffin until the day of the funeral.  This is done so people can quickly and easily check the body and to prevent condensation or damage to the lid.  While the coffin is in the fridge without a lid it will have a sheet or other temporary cover to protect the body.

Coffin lid storage

    This is the embalming and preparation area.  It is also where the bodies are unloaded from the transfer van (through the roller door to the right).  So here is where all the interesting equipment is kept. From makeup to trochar.

    The white tray shown above is a standard mortuary tray.  This is what bodies are kept and prepared on until they are placed in the coffin.  These trays are made of fiberglass, with metal legs and wheels that can be locked into position.

    The machine below is one of my favourite things in the mortuary.  It is what the embalmer uses to replace the blood with chemicals.  In the past they would have had to use gravity to do this.  A much more difficult and labour intensive method.  Now however they have this machine.

    This machine is basically an artificial heart.  It even sounds like a mechanical heart, making a rhythmic and mechanical pumping sound as it works.  There are two glass tubes on either side at the front.  They are like thermometers in that they have liquid inside and numbers running along them vertically.  As the machine pumps the fluid in these tubes goes up and down, displaying the pressure of the liquids.  It is a very cool little machine.

    Below is another standard white mortuary tray.  In this picture you can also see the red 'head block'.  This is a heavy plastic block placed under the head so as to keep it above the chest.  Keeping the head raised like this prevents purging.  The embalming tools are stored below this machine in the trays.

    This is a special little sink, although it looks more similar to a toilet.  It is used during embalming to drain blood and fluids.  Yep, all the fun things from a funeral home mortuary go down the pluming, just like the sink at home.  You can also see the autoclave to the right.  It is the white box above the metal tray.  The autoclave is used to sterilise tools.

    To the side of the embalming area is a whiteboard with information.  Thinks like how much of a certain chemical to use, embalmer details.  There is also a sink to wash up.

    Below are two milk creates.  These are used in the coffining process.  Basically the coffin is placed on these two creates, so it is just below the tray.  This makes it easier and safer to lift the body off the tray and into the coffin.  Inside the cabinets is makeup and other useful tools.

    Some gloves, disposable aprons and other stuff being stored on a shelf next to the fridge.

    You can see more photos I took inside another mortuary here.

   
    "Permission to Embalm" is a documentary on the funeral industry.  It look inside the mortuary and explains some tools and techniques   Quite a decent documentary for anyone who's interested.

    "For Life" is a short documentary of an Australian funeral home.  While there is little time spent in a mortuary it does show one and what is done.

    "The Embalming Room" is a short explanation of the mortuary, focusing on embalming.  It discusses tools, methods and so on.  An informative and short video.  It is also a look at women in the funeral industry.

    Here are some more photos from inside another mortuary.

    If you are looking for information about a mortuary for research (such as writing a book, a documentary, etc) then approach funeral homes.  Eventually one might let you in and have a look.  Or they might at least answer a few questions.

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