Funeral director: ‘By the graveside, in our masks and gloves, we can only bow our heads. It isn’t much but, hopefully, it will show we care’

Funeral director Cameron McGillivray and his team arrive at a care home, after another death where the coronavirus is suspected. They should be pulling on full personal protection equipment, according to official guidance which suggests Covid-19 can remain infectious in a body for more than 72 hours.

But they wait before putting on the masks and gloves, aprons and paper suits. They wait because they don’t want to scare the residents.

Cameron, whose family have for four generations been involved in funeral care, told The Sunday Post: “For us, PPE is goggles, face mask, gloves and apron or full over-suit like you see on forensic teams at crime scenes.

“But we are extremely sensitive, especially where care homes are involved. If we go in wearing the white overalls it can be very frightening for the residents, so we only put them on when we are about to enter the deceased’s room.”

It is just one way that funeral directors, like Cameron, 52, are desperately striving to ensure there remains dignity in death in defiance of the coronavirus.

Cameron, who owns and runs Norman Will Funeral Directors in the market town of Turriff, Aberdeenshire, admits the process is challenging.

Everything has changed, from how bodies are collected, to procedures in rest rooms, and the way the deceased are finally laid to rest. But he insists: “We are doing our best. We do everything we can for families to make it as easy for them as possible. We spend considerable time with them asking what their wishes are and how best we can try to deliver them in these difficult circumstances.

“At the moment there are no church services. For someone who is waiting for burial there are graveside ceremonies with limited numbers. I have seen less than 10 family members at a grave whereas before, after a large funeral it would be at least 50.

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“Some crematoria, like Aberdeen, are also not providing services. Families have to wait outside while their loved one is cremated. Those crematoria that are offering funeral services do so for immediate family only with a restriction on numbers. The mourners have to travel in their own cars, we can’t use limousines and there can be no pallbearers because of social distancing.

“All of this can be hard for families. Some have been very distressed and frustrated because of the way they are having to do things, without saying goodbye properly. We very gently explain the new process to them. Most are very understanding and know we are following guidelines.”

The calls come night or day from any one of the surrounding towns and villages. “Last weekend we got a call out at 2am on Saturday and then another at 10 o’clock at night,” he says. “It seems like we will have a period of being at hospital and then a period at care homes.”

Cameron worked with Norman Will before the well-known and respected undertaker retired but what he didn’t know until he took over the company was that his father, a joiner in Tomintoul, had worked with undertakers and his great- grandfather was a funeral director.

PPE is crucial to his work, but obtaining it is not easy. “I got the PPE from a medical supplies company in early March. I ordered 20 body bags, 20 overall white suits, overshoes and a couple of boxes of PPE gloves and face masks. I went to put in a second order the next day, when I realised it was going to be worse than we first anticipated, and they were sold out.

“I had to start sourcing elsewhere but it was difficult, so many places were selling out. They said they would re-stock but that could be three weeks later. Prices started to rise – in some cases by five times as much. At the moment we use goggles which we clean with disinfectant. I have ordered full face masks with a breathing device and filter. I had to do that online because a lot of suppliers are out of stock; you look for equipment wherever you can.

“I have just put another order in for suits, and face masks. You have to stay ahead because they take four to six weeks to arrive. We use a company in Scotland to supply coffins and they have managed to source body bags, so I have ordered 90.

“The demand for coffins just now is high, so the suppliers have temporarily reduced their range to cope with that. What they are offering at the moment is what we call a ‘flat flat’. It is a standard coffin with a flat top and flat sides that is most often used in cremations.”

The funeral director uses a recovery vehicle to collect the deceased. It has to be disinfected after every use. When he arrives at the hospital mortuary, care home, or private home, he immediately places the deceased in a body bag to contain the virus, before moving them into a coffin double-lined with special protective film. It is then sealed, and it is not opened again. If embalming is required, the procedure is outsourced.

Camerson says some funeral directors do viewing but a face mask must be placed on the body.

© DEREK IRONSIDE / NEWSLINE MEDIA

“Whether the coffin is open for viewing is up to each funeral director but it is paramount you look after yourself and your staff,” he says. “You might not show the signs of the disease but you could have it; so you have to take every precaution not to contract it.

“There is risk but I am not afraid. We have the PPE and we are minimising that risk. I focus on the bereaved family. It helps me to cope with the enormity of the task I’m undertaking. Relatives can visit the rest rooms as often as they wish but given social distancing it is not wise to come more than once. The coffin is kept in our mortuary fridge and comes out when they visit but it remains sealed.

“Some bring in a photograph of the deceased on a stand, or if they wish favourite music to be played we can do that for them.

“Some churches are conducting funeral services on video so that family and friends of the deceased can see it before or after the burial or cremation. Moray Crematorium is also providing a web cast.

“With a graveside service my colleagues and I take the coffin to the grave and a member of the burial team helps us to place it on the grave, so we can still adhere to social distancing with the family.

“But we lower the coffin into the grave with family members. There is a strap for health and safety reasons that allows four of us to do this and maintain social distance within reason. But we also wear masks and gloves and we can supply them to the family if they wish.”

But while distance dilutes the danger, it comes with a cost. “It doesn’t feel complete,” says Cameron. “You can’t offer that handshake, or that hug our ladies will sometimes give the bereaved family. There is that loss of physical human contact which is so important when people are grieving.

“So now, at the graveside or the crematorium, we give a little bow to the family. It is respect and a sign that we care. The job is more challenging at the moment but that makes it all the more important to do it well. In this crisis people need our support more than ever.”