Dig Deep: My personal perspective of exhumations
Overview Cultural differences Personal experience Definitions and legislative requirements Process
Cultural perspectives Greeks exhume after a few years-use of ossuary Balinese exhume after a few months or when funds permit-funeral pyre (bonfire) Vietnamese dig up ancestors after 3 yearscollect bones-clean-reburial Zoroastrians in Iran leave corpses for vultures to devour
Experience First exhumation at Crookwell Cemetery (NSW) in 1977 (Nearly 40 Years Ago) To date supervised approximately 400 exhumations Since 1983 largely at Pinegrove and Rookwood Cemeteries in Western Sydney Rookwood Necropolis is the second largest in the world
Definition Exhumation removal of dead person s remains from a grave or crypt In NSW controlled by Public Health Regulation 2012 Disposal of Bodies Prohibited unless the exhumation of those remains has been: (a) Ordered by a coroner, or (b) Approved by the Director-General of Health
Diseases precluding Diphtheria Plague exhumation Respiratory anthrax Smallpox Tuberculosis Any viral haemorrhagic fever (including Lassa, Marburg, Ebola and Congo- Crimean fevers)
Conditions of Approval Gravesite to be screened from public view No relative permitted to be present Remains of deceased shall be enclosed in a body bag & placed into a new coffin Plan of Management signed by Cemetery Mgr. & includes the use of PPE
Legal requirements Paper work (1) Must be signed by either (a) The executor (b) The nearest surviving relative (c) A proper person (2) By use of approved form with: (a) Certified copy of the death certificate (b) Statutory declaration (c) Application fee of $342.00 Consent given by Director-General of Health
Personal Protective Equipment Protective space suit Gum boots Impervious gloves Disposable mask Safety glasses All acting as protection from non infectious splash hazards
Reasons For Exhumations Body to be cremated, transferred to vault, or sent overseas Body for overseas requires an embalming certificate Body to another part of same cemetery Body to a different cemetery
Reasons for Exhumationscont d Body placed in wrong grave Unidentified body in pauper s grave Compulsory acquisition of land for reuse Forensic exhumations - lengthy & detailed procedures Relocation of private & public cemetery New infrastructure such as Road or Airport
Setting up - screening of gravesite from public view
Another view of gravesitescreening from public view
Protecting adjacent grave sites
Mechanical backhoe work completed Hand digging to commence
Hands on removal
A second grave digger calls for new body bag
Positioning of body bag to slide under remains
Continuation of placing body bag under remains
Remains removed
For ethical reasons the skeletal remains are aligned
Continuation of aligning the remains
24 years decomposition
The use of sieves to ensure all small body parts are recovered
Continuation of recovering small body parts
New coffin ready to receive exhumed remains
Body bag sealed
Remains placed appropriately in coffin
External materials originally buried outside of coffin is disposed of separately
Another view of external material
Funeral Director vehicles used to transport remains
Loading coffin onto transport
Summary Cost of exhumations range between $13,000-$20,000. However family members of a deceased person are prepared to pay such costs for their peace of mind and closure ( to make it right ).