| (a) In order to ensure the maximum inhibition of pathogenic
organisms in the dead human body, the following minimum standards
of performance shall be required of each licensed embalmer in the
State of Texas in each instance in which he or she is authorized or
required to embalm a dead human body.
(1) Embalming shall be performed only by embalmers
licensed by the Commission, in properly equipped and licensed establishments,
or in the event of a disaster of major proportions, in facilities
designated by a Medical Examiner, Coroner, or state health official.
Only three types of people may under certain circumstances assist
licensed embalmers in embalming: provisional licensed embalmers under
the personal supervision of a licensed embalmer; students who are
enrolled in an accredited school of mortuary science working on a
case intended toward completion of the student's clinical requirements,
under the personal supervision of a licensed embalmer and with written
permission to assist the embalmer from a family member or the person
responsible for making arrangements for final disposition; and, in
the event of a disaster of major proportions and with the prior approval
of the Executive Director, embalmers licensed in another state as
long as they are working with or under the general supervision of
a person licensed as an embalmer in this state.
(2) Embalmers are required to utilize all personal
protective equipment required by either OSHA or its corresponding
state agency during the embalming procedure.
(3) Clothing and/or personal effects of the decedent
shall either be disinfected before delivery to any person or discarded
in a manner consistent with the disposal of biohazardous material.
(4) The technique utilized to effect eye, mouth, and
lip closure shall be any technique accepted as standard in the profession.
Regardless of the technique chosen, the embalmer shall be required
to achieve the best results possible under prevailing conditions.
(5) The entire body may be thoroughly cleaned before
arterial injection and shall be cleaned immediately after the embalming
procedure with an antiseptic soap or detergent.
(6) Body orifices (nostrils, mouth, anus, vagina, ear
canals, and urethra) open lesions, and other surgical incisions shall
be treated with appropriate topical disinfectants either before or
immediately after arterial injection. After cavity treatment has been
completed, body orifices shall be packed in cotton saturated with
a suitable disinfectant of a phenol coefficient not less than one
in cases where purge is evident or is likely to occur and/or when
the body is to be transported out of state or by common carrier.
(7) The arterial fluid to be injected shall be one
commercially prepared and marketed with its percent of formaldehyde,
or other approved substance, by volume (index) clearly marked on the
label or in printed material supplied by the manufacturer.
(8) The fluids selected shall be injected into all
bodies in such dilutions and at such pressures as the professional
experience of the embalmer shall indicate, except that in no instance
shall dilute solution contain less than 1.0% formaldehyde, or an approved
substance that acts the same as formaldehyde, and as the professional
experience of the embalmer indicates, one gallon of dilute solution
shall be used for each 50 pounds of body weight. Computation of solution
strength is as follows: C x V = C' x V', where C = strength of concentrated
fluid, V = volume of ounces of concentrated fluid, C' = strength of
dilute fluid, and V' = volume of ounces of dilute fluid
(9) Abdominal and thoracic cavities shall be treated
in the following manner.
(A) Liquid, semi-solid, and gaseous contents which
can be withdrawn through a trocar shall be aspirated by the use of
the highest vacuum pressure attainable.
(B) Concentrated, commercially prepared cavity fluid
which is acidic in nature (6.5 pH or lower) and contains at least
two preservative chemicals shall be injected and evenly distributed
throughout the aspirated cavities. A minimum of 16 ounces of concentrated
cavity fluid shall be used in any embalming case in which a minimum
of two gallons of arterial solution has been injected.
(C) Should distension and/or purge occur after treatment,
aspiration and injection as required shall be repeated as necessary.
(10) The embalmer shall be required to check each body
thoroughly after treatment has been completed. Any area not adequately
disinfected by arterial and/or cavity treatment shall be injected
hypodermically with disinfectant and preservative fluid of maximum
results. A disinfectant and preservative medium shall be applied topically
in those cases which require further treatment.
(11) On bodies in which the arterial circulation is
incomplete or impaired by advance decomposition, burns, trauma, autopsy,
or any other cause, the embalmer shall be required to use the hypodermic
method to inject all areas which cannot be properly treated through
whatever arterial circulation remains intact (if any).
(12) In the event that the procedures in paragraphs
(1) - (11) of this subsection leave a dead human body in condition
to constitute a high risk of infection to anyone handling the body,
the embalmer shall be required to apply to the exterior of the body
an appropriate embalming medium in powder or gel form and to enclose
the body in a zippered plastic or rubber pouch prior to burial or
other disposal.
(13) Dead human bodies donated to the State Anatomical
Board shall be embalmed as required by the State Anatomical Board
and where conflicting requirements exist, those requirements of the
State Anatomical Board shall prevail.
(14) All bodies should be treated in such manner and
maintained in such an atmosphere as to avoid infestation by vermin,
maggots, ants, and other insects; however, should these conditions
occur, the body should be treated with an effective vermicide and/or
insecticide to eliminate these conditions.
(15) No licensed establishment or licensed embalmer
shall take into its or the embalmer's care any dead human body for
embalming without exerting every professional effort, and employing
every possible technique or chemical, to achieve the highest level
of disinfecting.
(16) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to
prohibit the use of supplemental or additional procedures or chemicals
which are known to and accepted in the funeral service profession
and which are not specifically mentioned in this subsection.
(b) Minor variations in these procedures shall be permitted
as long as they do not compromise the purpose of this rule as stated
in subsection (a) of this section.
(c) All embalming case reports must contain, at a minimum,
all the information on the case-report form promulgated by the Commission.
Funeral establishments may use other forms, so long as the forms contain
all the information on the promulgated form. A case report shall be
completed for each embalming procedure not later than the date of
disposition of the body which was embalmed. The embalmer shall ensure
that all information contained in the case report is correct and legible.
The completed form shall be retained for two years following the procedure
date. The embalming case report must be completed and signed by the
licensed embalmer who performed the embalming procedure.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to
require embalming if a family member or the person responsible for
making arrangements for final disposition does not authorize embalming.
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