Current through November, 2024
Section 11-22-4 - Embalming and embalmers(a) Embalming. (1) No person shall embalm a dead human body unless licensed by the director as an embalmer or registered with the director as an apprentice embalmer under the supervision of a licensed embalmer.(2) Except as provided in § 11-22-4(a) (3), a dead human body shall be embalmed, if the condition of the body permits, cremated, or buried within thirty hours after death, unless the body has been placed in the custody of the coroner, medical examiner, county, or county physician. In such instances, the body shall be embalmed, cremated, buried within thirty hours after release, or placed in refrigerated storage in a State approved hospital.(3) No embalming fluid, or substitute therefor, shall be injected into any dead body: (A) if the death is subject to investigation by the coroner or medical examiner, or(B) if the death was from plague, asiatic cholera, smallpox, epidemic typhus fever, yellow fever, or louse-borne relapsing fever, or any approved term indicating such diseases. Permission to embalm in case (A) above must be secured from the office of the coroner or medical examiner and in case (B) from the director.(b) Embalmer's license. (1) Any application for an embalmer's license in the State must be made under oath to the director on forms provided for that purpose, the applicant shall meet the requirements prescribed by § 469-1, HRS.(2) An examination shall be held at least once a year and at such time as the director may determine. All applications shall be filed with the director on or before the first of the month in which the examination is to be held. A fee of $25 shall be submitted with the application.(3) There shall be a written examination, supplemented by a practical examination. Applicants shall be examined in the subjects of embalming, anatomy, pathology, bacteriology, and chemistry and in such other related subjects as the director may prescribe, all examination papers shall be filed in the department of heath.(c) Apprentice embalmers. (1) Whenever any person wishes to qualify as an apprentice embalmer, the person shall register with the director upon forms furnished for the purpose and shall otherwise comply with the requirements of § 469-4, HRS.(2) An apprentice who is a graduate of an embalming school recognized by the Commission of Schools of the American Board of Funeral Service Education may begin embalming upon registration; an apprentice without such training may not actually embalm as defined in § 11-22-2, until after completing one year of apprenticeship. In all cases, an apprentice shall embalm only in the presence of and under the direction of a license embalmer.(3) The maximum term of apprenticeship shall be not more than two years beyond the required period of practical experience specified in § 469-1, HRS, except that apprentices on register as of July 1, 1957 shall not be affected.(4) The director may grant leaves of absence and approve absences during the term of apprenticeship.(5) An apprentice must work under the personal supervision of the licensed embalmer under whom apprenticed. The director must be notified of any substitute arrangement with another licensed embalmer that is expected to last more than one month.[Eff. Dec. 26, 1981] (Auth: HRS §§ 321-11, 469-2) (Imp: HRS §§ 321-11, 469-1, 469-2, 469-4)