An embalmer, Joe Anim has highlighted the practical difficulties of training hospital staff on embalming equipment when there are no bodies to work on.
In a social media post, Anim shared his experience of travelling to a hospital to install an embalming machine and train mortuary attendants, only to find there were no dead bodies available for demonstration.
“If I go to a facility and there are no cadavers or dead bodies to teach the staff how to use the machine, I’d have to wait for someone to die. It’s been two days and nobody has died in the facility,” he explained.
Mr. Anim noted that he would have to leave within a day or two if no suitable case presented itself, as he could not complete the installation without hands-on training.
He emphasized that the unpredictable nature of deaths at some hospitals can leave him waiting and unpaid when he’s unable to complete installations or training.
“My job feels weird sometimes. If there’s no mortality in the facility, I have to leave and wait. And I don’t get paid if I don’t install the machine. Sometimes I ask myself why I chose this work,” he said.
