Mortuary Technician

NYC Health + Hospitals; New York (NY); On-site; USD 42,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

Elmhurst Hospital Center, part of NYC Health + Hospitals, seeks a Mortuary Technician to perform routine mortuary work under supervision, including retrieval, receipt and disposition of deceased persons and autopsy preparation.

Role requires handling bodies, maintaining mortuary areas, and assisting pathologists. Certification options (CRCST/CSPDT) and physical demands are noted; prior central service experience may be considered for grandfathering.

Qualifications

• No formal education or experience required for this role.
• Certification in central service is preferred (CRCST or CSPDT).
• Grandfathering criteria apply for prior healthcare central service work.

Responsibilities

• Removes deceased from call location and transports to appropriate area, with documentation.
• Records, tags and stores clothing according to agency procedures.
• Receives, stores and releases deceased to authorized persons for autopsy or removal.
• Assists funeral directors in transferring deceased to vehicles.
• Prepares bodies for autopsy; disrobes, cleans, weighs organs as needed.
• Sterilizes mortuary instruments and premises; maintains autopsy suites and storage areas.
• Assists pathologist during autopsy procedures with lifting, incisions and organ handling.
• Maintains mortuary records and answers routine inquiries; takes identification photos.

Skills

Physical stamina

Education

CRCST certification

CSPDT certification

Job description

Marketing Statement

Elmhurst Hospital Center (EHC) is the major tertiary care provider in the borough of Queens. The hospital is comprised of 545 beds and is a Level I Trauma Center, an Emergency Heart Care Station and a 911 Receiving Hospital. It is the premiere health care organization for key areas such as Surgery, Cardiology, Women's Health, Pediatrics, Rehabilitation Medicine, Renal and Mental Health Services.

Marketing Statement

Elmhurst Hospital Center (EHC) is the major tertiary care provider in the borough of Queens. The hospital is comprised of 545 beds and is a Level I Trauma Center, an Emergency Heart Care Station and a 911 Receiving Hospital. It is the premiere health care organization for key areas such as Surgery, Cardiology, Women's Health, Pediatrics, Rehabilitation Medicine, Renal and Mental Health Services. At NYC Health + Hospitals, our mission is to deliver high quality care health services, without exception. Every employee takes a person-centered approach that exemplifies the ICARE values (Integrity, Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence) through empathic communication and partnerships between all persons.

Duties & Responsibilities

Purpose of Position

Under direct supervision, performs routine mortuary work encompassing the retrieval, receipt and administrative disposition of deceased persons, and preparing for and assisting in autopsies. All personnel perform related work.

Examples Of Typical Tasks

• Removes deceased from place of call, loads deceased into transport vehicle, unloads and delivers deceased to appropriate location; completes documentation.
• Records, tags and stores clothing according to agency procedures.
• Receives, stores, and releases deceased to authorized persons for autopsy or removal; checks death certificates and other documents to verify proper release of deceased.
• Assists funeral directors in transferring deceased from mortuary storage locations to funeral director’s vehicles.
• Removes deceased from storage compartments, including walk-in refrigerators, and transfers them to the autopsy suite; disrobes, cleans, tags, washes, and weighs deceased; assists in the preparation of simple solutions; assists in labeling of specimen jars.
• Cleans, sterilizes and maintains mortuary instruments, equipment and premises. Washes autopsy instruments and tables, body storage compartments, wheeled body carriers and walls and floors of autopsy and body storage areas.
• Assists the pathologist during autopsy procedures by: lifting and turning bodies; making incisions and removing organs and other body parts; opening organs; and weighing organs.
• Replaces organs, packs cavities, sutures, washes, and returns deceased to storage facility upon completion of autopsy.
• Maintains manual and computer mortuary records; answers routine telephone inquiries.
• Takes photographs of deceased for identification purposes.
• Prepares unclaimed bodies for transfer to a county mortuary.
• Maintains mortuary autopsy suites, autopsy tables, and floors.
• Reports all accidents and unusual incidents to immediate supervisor.

Minimum Qualifications

There are no formal education or experience requirements for this position. Special Note: This is a very physically demanding position. Note: Effective January 1, 2015, employees performing central service functions, while serving in the Group 12 title of Mortuary Technician (104110), must either possess valid certification as a Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRCST) issued by the International Association of Healthcare Central Service Material Management or as a Certified Sterile Processing and Distribution Technician (CSPDT) issued by the Certifying Board for Sterile Processing and Distribution, or be grandfathered. Grandfathering requires that employees provide evidence that they have been employed in a healthcare facility for a cumulative period of one (1) year occurring between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2014 and that they have competently performed central service functions during the course of their qualifying experience and will continue to be able to competently perform such functions during the course of their employment at HHC. In addition, these employees will be required to annually complete ten (10) hours of continuing education credits in order to remain qualified to perform central service functions at an HHC facility.

Department Preferences