Quote:
Originally Posted by lianbeng
lianbeng replies u: we called that "Last Office" lah! for the last time we cleaned up the dead body before sending to the mortuary lah! upon doctor's announcement of death, the family members of the deceased will be informed by the ward staff nurse in charge lah! usually it will take some time before they arrived at the ward lah! meanwhile, a basin of water and a wash towel are prepared for the deceased, usually attended to by 2 persons, an assistant nurse or student nurse and a health attendant. the body is stripped naked and bed-sponging performed from face to toes lah! then a pair of gauze is placed on each eyelid with a tape to keep it closed. another tape is placed on the mouth. the body will cool down slowly until frozen, called rigor mortis. everything must be done faster before rigor mortis sets in lah! then the hands are placed palm-down on his sides and feet positioned as if normal lah! then a piece of shroud is placed underneath the dead body for wrapping lah! then wait for the family members to come lah!  |
Why is there a need to bed sponge the dead, unless it's in bad shape? Doesn't freezing do the job? I'm pretty surprise this process is done by a student nurse at times, doesn't he or she gets freaked out?
Thanks for the explanation, it's really heart warming to hear what nurses do for the dead.