Emergency Preparedness
On March 26, 2020 the Alberta Funeral Service Regulatory Board took part in a conference call with the Alberta Funeral Service Association and the Central Zone Emergency Operation Center with Director Robert Swanson. The agenda was to discuss emergency preparedness and morgue capacity. There were a number of action items that came out of this meeting, which the Board wanted to share with you.
These points are:
The AFSRB recommended that AHS encourage doctors to expedite signing the Medical Certificate of Death form in a timely manner to ensure the timely release of decedents from their facilities to ensure there is not an unnecessary overload at morgue sites.
Funeral service providers ensure the prompt transfer of deceased from hospital and nursing home facilities as quickly as possible.
Funeral service providers develop continuity plans to deal with a surge in deaths with a shortage of staff.
The AFSRB/AFSA advocated that each Zone Emergency Operation Center reach out to their municipalities to discuss chains of communications, continuity plans for over capacity situations on the local level, and worse case scenario planning in the event that the funeral service providers are not able to keep up with demand or the municipalities are not able to render services. It is the AFRSB’s position that funeral home owners/managers should reach out to your respective municipalities to have a discussion about how this can be managed appropriately in the event of over capacity.
It remains the position of the AFSRB to continue to follow the directives provided by the Government of Alberta during the COVID-19 pandemic as outlined on the following link: https://www.alberta.ca/coronavirus-info-for-albertans.aspx . If the Government provides information for funeral services businesses either in regard to the handling of COVID-19 cases or other directives specific to funeral service, the AFSRB will ensure this information is provided as quickly as possible.
Should you need to speak to someone with any direct concerns, you can reach out to the Executive Director Karen Caruthers at 1(800)563-4652.