If you run a funeral home, you likely have to transport bodies between hospitals or homes and your facility. A regular van works in many cases, but in certain cases, you may want a refrigerated van. Here are five signs your funeral home should consider upgrading to a refrigerated van.
1. You travel long distances to pick up bodies.
If your funeral home is based in a remote area and you have to drive long distances to transport bodies, you may want to invest in a refrigerated truck. With refrigeration, you don't have to worry about the body decomposing during transit. Additionally, if you live in a large city where traffic congestion causes your journeys to take a long time, you may also want to consider a refrigerated truck.
2. You use a lot of dried ice to chill your bodies.
If you don't have a refrigerated truck, you are likely using a lot of other strategies to keep bodies from decomposing too quickly while in transit, and dry ice is just one of these strategies. If you are spending a lot of money on refrigeration substitutions, that may be a sign that you should cut those costs and reinvest the money into a refrigerated truck.
3. Your clients prefer not to embalm their deceased loved ones.
Many people are moving away from the practice of embalming. Some people prefer to avoid embalming for religious purposes, while others opt to avoid the chemicals so they can bury their loved ones in a natural cemetery. Under Australian law, the bodies of the deceased do not necessarily have to be embalmed. However, if they are not embalmed, they need to be stored in a refrigerated facility. To be on the safe side, legally and from a health perspective, you may want to have a refrigerated truck as well as a refrigerated area for bodies in your funeral home.
4. You need space for occasional overflow.
Unfortunately, during certain times, you may have more bodies than you can handle. As a result, the refrigeration facilities in your funeral home may get overcrowded. With the permission of the family, you can move the overflow into your refrigerated truck. This creates a temporary solution for your storage needs as they arise.
5. You live in an area prone to electrical outages.
If you live in an area where electrical outages are common, you may want to back up the electrical system of your funeral home with a generator. However, you can also use your refrigerated truck in these cases. In particular, if you don't have a generator, you can move bodies to your truck and use your truck's battery to keep them cool until the power comes back on in your funeral home.
