Wyo. Code R. 035-0001-4
Funeral Service Practitioners, Board of
Chapter 4: Practice of Professional Funeral Service
Effective Date: 01/08/2015 to Current
Rule Type: Current Rules & Regulations
Reference Number: 035.0001.4.01082015
Section 1. Inspection of Facility. The Inspector appointed by the Board shall have the powers and duties prescribed by law and shall at all times carry the certificate of his appointment and authority issued by the Board and signed by the President of the Board, which he shall present upon demand when engaged in the business of the Board. The Inspector shall make a full and complete confidential report of all inspections and investigations made by him and shall leave with the person in charge of each funeral establishment inspected or investigated by him a certificate showing the date of the inspection, a copy of the certificate signed by the person in charge of the establishment at the time of the completion of the inspection or investigation, shall be transmitted by the Inspector of the Board. Whenever any inspection or investigation is made by a member of the Board, the foregoing provisions of this rule shall apply to the member of the Board.
(a) A funeral director licensed prior to July 1, 2014, or a funeral service practitioner must maintain at all times within each funeral establishment owned, managed or controlled by him, a preparation room furnished with a sanitary floor of either tile, vinyl, inlaid linoleum, or other impervious flooring material; sufficient drainage and forced air ventilation, a sanitary embalming table, and the other furnishings and instruments as are required for the proper care and preparation of a dead human body. If a hydro aspirator is in use in the preparation room, the hydro aspirator must have a vacuum breaker attached thereto.
(b) All hearses and first call or removal vehicles and the equipment therein shall be kept clean and sanitary and free from deleterious odors at all times.
(c) All funeral establishments must stock a minimum of six (6) adult caskets of varying degrees of price and quality for sale and must also have on hand at least one each of shipping containers, and alternative containers for cremation.
Section 2. Consumer Protection. A funeral director or funeral service practitioner who violates Wyoming Statutes relating to consumer protection, Sections 40-12-101, et seq., or consumer credit, Section 40-14-101, et seq., or any other statute of the State pertinent to the practice of funeral service shall be subject to revocation or suspension of his license.
Section 3. Itemized Prices, Written Disclosure Statements, and Cash Advances. The Board hereby adopts the Federal Trade Commission's funeral service rule of April 30, 1984, along with the Federal Trade Commission's amended federal service rule of July 19, 1994, with regard to itemized prices, written disclosure statements, and cash advances.
(a) The use of embalming fluids, hardening compounds and preservatives for the preparation of human remains, containing mineral poisons, is strictly prohibited in the State of Wyoming.
(b) Every person while actually engaged in embalming a dead human body shall be attired in a clean and sanitary smock, gown, or apron covering the person from the neck to below the knees, and shall while so engaged, wear rubber impervious gloves. The dead human body shall not be allowed to remain unnecessarily nude or indecently exposed at any time during the embalming operation or while reposing in the preparation room.
(c) Every preparation room shall be stocked or furnished with proper and convenient receptacles for refuse, bandages, cotton and other waste materials. All such discarded items shall be destroyed by incineration or other sanitary means.
(d) Every preparation room shall be kept and maintained in a clean and sanitary condition and all embalming tables, hoppers, sinks, receptacles, instruments and other appliances used in embalming dead human bodies shall be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected after use.
(e) The bodies of those who have died of a contagious communicable infectious disease shall not be transported nor accepted for transportation unless prepared by being thoroughly disinfected and embalmed by:
(i) Arterial and cavity injection with an effective disinfecting and embalming fluid;
(ii) Disinfecting and stopping all orifices with dry, absorbent cotton;
(iii) Washing the human remains with a disinfectant.
(f) Those who have died in such a manner as to prevent arterial and cavity embalming, and were infected with a communicable disease at the time of death, must be hypodermically and topically treated with an effective disinfecting and preserving fluid and/or powder. The human remains must then be placed in a container which is resistant to the flow of air and fluids, a disaster pouch being the minimum container with a zipper sealed with a good sealant.
(g) Bodies which are badly burned, mangled or mutilated to the a degree that they cannot be embalmed by conventional arterial and cavity embalming, shall be treated by hypodermic injections and topical applications of strong disinfectants and preservatives. After the treatments, they shall be placed in a container which resists the flow of air and fluids, a minimum of a disaster pouch. Before transportation is made by common carrier, the minimum container must be placed in a shipping container or regular casket to prevent the minimum container from being damaged during shipment.
Section 5. Requirement for Cremation, Chemical Disposition, Burial, Embalming or Refrigeration. All bodies in possession of the funeral service practitioner or funeral director must be properly refrigerated, cremated, chemically disposed, buried, or embalmed within thirty-six (36) hours after receipt thereof. No dead human body may be cremated or chemically
disposed of in under twenty-four (24) hours without the written permission of the county coroner of the county in which the death occurred.
Section 6. Requirement for Shipment of Bodies out of Wyoming. No human remains may be removed from the state of Wyoming by a funeral service practitioner of another state without first obtaining the services of a permitted Wyoming funeral establishment, for the purpose of the filing of a death certificate and obtaining a burial-transit permit.
(a) Bodies dead of communicable diseases which could present a public health risk to the funeral service practitioner, other persons handling the dead human body, or to persons in attendance at a funeral service must be embalmed prior to removal from this state.
(b) Bodies dead of causes other than from communicable diseases may be removed from this state unembalmed if they are:
(i) Placed in a container which is resistant to the flow of fluids and air, a minimum of which would be a disaster pouch;
(ii) If shipment will take place after thirty-six (36) hours from the time of death, then the dead human body must be refrigerated or embalmed before shipment.
Section 7. Requirements for Bodies Being Shipped into Wyoming. Dead bodies may be shipped into the state to a licensed funeral service practitioner under the following conditions:
(a) Bodies dead of causes other than communicable diseases may be shipped into this state unembalmed if they are incased in a container which is resistant to the flow of air and fluids, a minimum of which would be disaster pouch, and the bodies will be buried, cremated, chemically disposed, refrigerated or embalmed within thirty-six (36) hours of death.
(b) Bodies dead of communicable diseases which could present a public health risk to the funeral service practitioners, other persons handling the dead human body, or to persons in attendance at the funeral service must be embalmed before they are brought into this state.
Section 8. Requirements for Bodies shipped to Foreign Countries. All dead human bodies being shipped into any foreign country must be prepared and shipped in accordance with the laws, rules and regulations of the country to which that dead human body is being shipped.
(a) It shall be the responsibility of the funeral service practitioner, apprentice or removal person to ascertain the cause of death prior to removal from the place of death. If the person has died from a potentially infectious disease, the funeral service practitioner shall follow the recommendations of the state health officer in regards to permissible types of disposition.
(b) Procedure for removal. It shall be the duty of any licensee caring for the body of a person who had died of a potentially infectious disease proceed in the following manner: At the time of the first visit to the location where the deceased is found, the licensee shall cause the dead human body to be placed in a container which is resistant to the flow of air and fluids.