Mortuary Mnemonics

Podcast Title: HONC – The Shortcut to Bonding Patterns In embalming chemistry, we only need to know severalelements and how they interact with each other. For example, how they will bond with one another.  If you’ve ever looked at a chemical structureand thought, how many bonds should this atom make?  There’s a simple mnemonic that can guide youevery time: HONC . H-O-N-C. Each letter represents a...

When you think gout , think TOE, because that’s where it loves to start. The big toe joint, or first metatarsophalangeal joint, is the classic site for that sharp, fiery pain that wakes people at night. Now add TOPHI spelled T-O-P-H-I those are the chalky white deposits that form when uric acid crystals build up over time. Think of them as little mountains of urate that appear on ears, elbows, or...

“ABCs of the Aortic Arch.” A is for Aortic Arch – the main curve of theaorta. From there, the branches go in this order: B – Brachiocephalic artery C – Left Common carotid artery S – Left Subclavian artery Think: A – B – C – S . Quick tip: the brachiocephalic only comes off the right side—so it later splits into the right subclavian and right commoncarotid . The left side gets its own direct branc...

Rigor mortis, the stiffening of muscles after death due to fluctuation in ATP levels.  Rigor mortis can make it challenging to position a body for preparation. But don’t worry—our mnemonic, F.E.R.M., makes the process straightforward and easy to remember. Let’s break it down: F is for Flex. Start by gently flexing the joints. For example, bend the arms at the elbows or the legs at the knees. The g...

Phocomelia s a  congenital condition that involves malformations of human arms and legs that is most often described as having flipper-like appendages. However, it can manifest in other regions of the body resulting in shortened neck, abnormalities in the urethra, and hydrocephalus. A cause of phocomelia is the mother being prescribed certain chemicals during pregnancy.  However, the causes of mos...

Hemoptysis Here’s a mnemonic that I overheard in class one day. It’s for the word Hemoptysis. Hemoptysis is the coughing up or spitting  of blood from one’s lungs. It can be a sign of a serious medical condition. It can be caused by infections such as tuberculosis, cancer, and problems in blood vessels in the lungs. In my class hemoptysis is introduced with several other terms that are new but hav...

Here’s a quick mnemonic.  It’s one of those anatomical directional terms.   These are important for communicating with other professionals as they help to remove ambiguity. Today’s term is supination, the rotation of the forearm and hand so that the palm faces forward or upward.  The mnemonic is Soupination.  Imagine holding a bowl of soup in the palm of your hand. I suggest a gazpacho because it’...

As you are most certainly aware, one of the goals of embalming is temporary preservation. This accomplished is in part by stabilizing proteins.  Without getting into the chemical pathways this stabilization can be achieved through the neutralization of enzymatic proteins that will digest other proteins.  In regard to neutralization of enzymes it’s sort of a two birds one stone effect, stabilize an...

Tendons and ligaments are confusing. Do tendons connect bone to muscle? Muscle to muscle? Do ligaments connect bone to muscle? Okay so here is where I lean into structures that I am confident about.  Those structures that I’ve been familiar with for years, even before my first anatomy class.  A tendon is defined as a flexible but inelastic cord of strong fibrous collagen tissue attaching muscle to...

Let’s take a moment to talk about amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Embalming can, in part, be defined as the use of chemicals to stabilize proteins.  That being said, the reaction between embalming chemicals and proteins really occurs at the amino acids level. There are over 500 amino acids that exist in nature.  Of that there are about 20 that are necessary for human...

Pathology has a lot of vocabulary that sounds very similar.  For example, hypertrophy, hyperplasia and aplasia.  These similar sounding words can get confusing.  Knowing the pre-fix, suffix, and root words can be helpful in times like these.  But sometimes there is a mnemonic in there that can help alleviate stress. Let’s take a look at Hypertrophy and hyperplasia.  Hypertrophy is the enlargement...

Today’s mnemonic covers a casket part. It’s helpful if you are familiar with some romance languages.  So, there are a lot of casket parts that you get to be familiar with, the gimp, the ogee and others.  Some are easy to remember, others are not.  Additionally, many of them have synonyms.  This makes it even more challenging to manage all these terms. One of the casket components that has multiple...

Dr. Richard Burr was a civil war embalmer. You’re probably familiar with the photograph of him at his tent embalming with no PPE. We credit him with being the impetus of the establishment of rules for embalmers and undertakers.  This is because he was allegedly burning down the embalming tents of his competitors.   His last name Burr, sounds a lot like “burn”, making it easy to recall his role in...

The diaphragm is a dome shaped muscular partition between the thorax and the abdomen in mammals.  It has a functional role in breathing.  Like all muscles the diaphragm requires a supply of oxygenated blood.  The arteries that supply the diaphragm with oxygen are the phrenic arteries.  There are superior and inferior phrenic arteries. The superior supplies the superior aspect of the diaphragm and...

Erythrocytopenia, leukocytopenia, leukopenia, osteopenia  these are some of the terms you will come across in your Funeral Service Pathology class.  I think it’s a good idea to study the prefixes and suffixes of medical terms as they tend to repeat themselves. Here we see penia as in cytopenia, leukopenia.  Penia was the Greek Goddess of Poverty.  Her role was to teach humans to be productive and...

One of the conditions that you need to know for your career and the NBE is Spina Bifida. Spina Bifida is a condition that affects the spine, it’s typically observed in newborns.  Spina bifida is an umbrella term that covers several different variations. You will need to memorize three of these and know how to treat them in the embalming room.  The three conditions are Occulta, Meningocele, and Mye...

Hey there Funeral Service People, here’s a quick mnemonic for your vascular guides. As you know the vascular guides are important for locating and identifying the arteries that can be accessed for the purpose of embalming. The guides are built off known anatomical structures. To successfully use the guides, you will need to know a lot of anatomy. This means there can be a lot to memorize. So, let’...

Today’s mnemonic covers anticoagulants. Its widely understood that aldehydes function best with modifying agents. Modifying agents are chemicals added to embalming solution that help decrease molecular cohesion, add moisture to tissue, add color to tissue and help decrease clots that can form in the vascular system. Clots will negatively impact the distribution of your arterial solution through th...

If you’re a Funeral Service Education student, then you need be familiar with Microbiology. Microbiology is one of those subjects that require a lot of memorization. Bacteria shapes are typically discussed at the beginning of the course. This tip is for the simplest shaped bacteria, cocci. You may be familiar with the North African dish made of tiny steamed balls of semolina flour called couscous....

Postmortem chemical and physical changes can be so difficult to remember. Today’s mnemonic incorporates a Al Gore known for his role in the elucidation of Climate change through speeches and the popular movie released in 2006 An Inconvenient Truth.  The postmortem physical change we need to know is Algor mortis, AL- GOR mortis. Its the body’s acclimation to ambient temperature. It’s a change...

A two for one! Today we bridge anatomy and ceremonies. From your ceremonies class you probably learned the term genuflect . This refers to lowering of the body by bending a knee to the ground. This it often seen in ceremonies as a sign of worship. In anatomy we refer to the six arteries that in the leg branch from the distal femoral and the popliteal arteries as the genicular arteries. Genicular i...

After death the body goes through many chemical and physical changes.  One of these is termed the postmortem pH shift.    In the early postmortem phase the body becomes acidic. This is because of continued metabolism and the lack of elimination of waste. As time progresses the body becomes more alkaline (or basic) due to proteins breaking down and the liberation of nitrogen from ami...

Here’s a mnemonic for your history class. Ancient Egyptian embalming/mummification included canopic jars. These are containers that were used to store viscera that had been dried in natron that was not returned to the body. There were four canopic jars and describes the tops of the jars as representative of the children of Horus. These are described as a jackal head, a human head, a hawk head and...

The various strains are either Oral fecal or Blood borne but which is which? Is A blood borne? Is C blood borne? Here’s a simple mnemonic that will help you differentiate  these forever. A and E are vowels, Oral/fecal  begins  with O, which is also a vowel. (Pro-tip -  the vowels are bowels) B, C, and D are consonants, and Blood borne begins with a consonant. Just remember Vowels and Consonants an...

An easy way to remember the three parts of the small intestines in the anatomical order they are found.  Duodenum, Jejunum, Ilium.  If you take the first letters of Duodenum and Jejunum you get DJ, then add Ilium for D.J. Ilium!