Embalmers

• Dress bodies and place them in caskets.
• Close incisions, using needles and sutures.
• Attach trocar to pump-tube, start pump, and repeat probing to force embalming fluid into organs.
• Wash and dry bodies, using germicidal soap and towels or hot air dryers.
• Incise stomach and abdominal walls and probe internal organs, using trocar, to withdraw blood and waste matter from organs.
• Join lips, using needles and thread or wire.
• Reshape or reconstruct disfigured or maimed bodies when necessary, using dermasurgery techniques and materials such as clay, cotton, plaster of Paris, and wax.
• Pack body orifices with cotton saturated with embalming fluid to prevent escape of gases or waste matter.
• Make incisions in arms or thighs and drain blood from circulatory system and replace it with embalming fluid, using pump.
• Maintain records such as itemized lists of clothing or valuables delivered with body and names of persons embalmed.
• Apply cosmetics to impart lifelike appearance to the deceased.
• Remove the deceased from place of death and transport to funeral home.
• Perform the duties of funeral directors, including coordinating funeral activities.
• Insert convex celluloid or cotton between eyeballs and eyelids to prevent slipping and sinking of eyelids.
• Assist with placing caskets in hearses and organize cemetery processions.
• Serve as pallbearers, attend visiting rooms, and provide other assistance to the bereaved.
• 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.
• Arrange funeral home equipment and perform general maintenance.
• Perform special procedures necessary for remains that are to be transported to other states or overseas, or where death was caused by infectious disease.
• Arrange for transporting the deceased to another state for interment.
• Direct casket and floral display placement and arrange guest seating.
• Supervise funeral attendants and other funeral home staff.
• Press diaphragm to evacuate air from lungs.

Source: O*NET OnLine information for Embalmers.

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
• Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.

Source: O*NET OnLine information for Embalmers.