All About Embalmers
Position Description Prepare bodies for interment in conformity with legal requirements.
Embalmer Responsibilities
- Maintain records, such as itemized lists of clothing or valuables delivered with body and names of persons embalmed.
- Supervise funeral attendants and other funeral home staff.
- Assist coroners at death scenes or at autopsies, file police reports, and testify at inquests or in court, if employed by a coroner.
- Pack body orifices with cotton saturated with embalming fluid to prevent escape of gases or waste matter.
- Reshape or reconstruct disfigured or maimed bodies when necessary, using dermasurgery techniques and materials such as clay, cotton, plaster of Paris, and wax.
- Insert convex celluloid or cotton between eyeballs and eyelids to prevent slipping and sinking of eyelids.
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Embalmer Needed Skills
These are the skills Embalmers say are the most useful in their careers:
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
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.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Other Embalmer Job Titles
- Supervisor and Licensed Embalmer and Crematory Operator
- Funeral Director/Embalmer
- Assistant Manager/Embalmer
- Preparation Room Manager
- Licensed Embalmer Supervisor
What Kind of Embalmer Job Opportunities Are There?
In the United States, there were 3,700 jobs for Embalmer in 2016. There is little to no growth in job opportunities for Embalmer. There will be an estimated 600 positions for Embalmer per year.
The states with the most job growth for Embalmer are North Carolina, Colorado, and Tennessee. Watch out if you plan on working in Kansas, Kentucky, or Illinois. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.
Embalmer Salary
The typical yearly salary for Embalmers is somewhere between $25,260 and $71,920.
Embalmers who work in New York, Oregon, or Ohio, make the highest salaries.
Below is a list of the median annual salaries for Embalmers in different U.S. states.
State | Annual Mean Salary |
---|---|
Alabama | $40,780 |
Arizona | $46,090 |
Arkansas | $40,270 |
California | $50,280 |
Colorado | $40,180 |
Florida | $47,070 |
Georgia | $36,570 |
Hawaii | $39,320 |
Illinois | $48,750 |
Indiana | $35,880 |
Kansas | $47,180 |
Kentucky | $39,790 |
Louisiana | $47,320 |
Massachusetts | $46,320 |
Michigan | $48,160 |
Mississippi | $38,890 |
Missouri | $52,810 |
Nevada | $33,260 |
New York | $91,760 |
Ohio | $56,010 |
Oklahoma | $48,360 |
Oregon | $51,960 |
South Carolina | $41,720 |
Tennessee | $44,840 |
Texas | $44,450 |
Virginia | $46,710 |
What Tools do Embalmers Use?
Although they’re not necessarily needed for all jobs, the following technologies are used by many Embalmers:
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Office
- Web browser software
- Corel WordPerfect
- FPA Software MACCS
- HMIS Advantage
- Belmar & Associates Mortware
- Custom Data Systems Sterling Management Software
- Twin Tier Technologies MIMS
How to Become an Embalmer
Education needed to be an Embalmer:
How Long Does it Take to Become an Embalmer?
Where Embalmers Work
Embalmers work in the following industries:
References:
Image Credit: Senior Airman Andrew Lee via Public domain
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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