The first actual death I witnessed was my mother, from cancer. Until that happened, all of the bodies I’d seen were already enbalmed.
I don’t remember any names of my codes, but I’ve never been good with names. I do remember most of the cases and faces, however.
No kids yet; I haven’t had to deal with a ripe one, either. My career as an EMT is still young.
My great-grandmother. I was 4 or 5, mom took me up to the casket to “say goodbye” and made me kiss her forehead :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:. Twenty years later I still remember exactly how cold she felt. I find open casket funeral disgusting, yet they’re the norm where I live.
I have a very small family, and attend a church where memorial services with no casket, open or otherwise, are the norm. I always thought I was in the minority, not having been to a funeral with an open casket. It seems likely to me that most of my friends had been to viewings/wakes with open caskets by the time we were in high school.
Apparently if anyone on my husband’s side of the family passes away I should expect an open casket. I’m happy to say that since we’ve been married we haven’t lost anyone, except very recently an uncle whose wife chose not to have any type of service.
My husband has encountered 2 dead bodies “in the wild.” The first was in an alley that was a shortcut for him to work. He never did find out the circumstances. He did say that the second the smell hit his nostrils he knew instinctively he was near a dead person, even though he’d never seen one before.