Cremation is one of the two main choices we have for final disposition of the body after death. Knowing how the cremation process works might help in making decisions about whether you will use it for yourself or your family.
If you are going to use cremation, you will need to make some decisions. Are you going to have a funeral service? Are you going to view the body before cremation? Do you want to have the body embalmed? Do you want to have a burial service or do you plan to keep or spread the ashes? These questions impact how the body is handled and delivered to the crematorium.
If there is a pacemaker, it will need to be removed before the body is cremated because it contains explosive materials. Any jewelry that you want will need to be removed ahead of time. The casket that you pick out needs to be combustible. If you decide not to use a casket, the body needs to be delivered in a combustible cardboard container or vessel suitable for cremation. There are state laws that regulate the details about the time between death and cremation and how the body is to be handled and transported to the crematorium. These laws also regulate the handling of the body at the crematorium and how long it can be there before completing the cremation process - usually 24 hours.
Once the body is at the crematorium, it is scheduled to be placed into the cremator. State laws will usually dictate that the container is not to be opened. It is delivered into the retort, a brick lined chamber of the furnace, through an electronically controlled door on a trolley. The chamber is heated by computer controlled, gas fired burners to about 2000 degrees. The cremation itself takes about one and a half to two hours to complete.
When the cremation is complete, the door is opened and the remains are brushed into a container for removal. A large magnet is swept over the remains to remove any metal that was contained in the body such as surgical pins, fillings, or shrapnel. At this point, there will also be some larger bone fragments that did not get reduced to ash. The remains are then processed through a cremulator which pulverizes any bones and reduces the remains to ash and a flaky powder. This takes about 20 minutes. There will be about 4-6 lb. of remains left that will be put into a sealed container to be delivered back to the family.
If you or another member of your family is going through the process of planning to die, it will help to know some of the details about cremation when you are talking to your family and planning your options.
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