Mainers await call for assistance Funeral directors, medical examiners ready to help emergency efforts

As the body count of those killed in Tuesday’s terrorist attacks continues to mount, Maine funeral directors and medical examiners have offered to head to New York City and Washington, D.C., to help deal with body identification and funeral arrangements for the dead.

Maine has a funeral directors disaster response team and those directors have stepped forward to offer their help, according to Bob Barnes of Jones, Rich and Hutchins Funeral Home in Portland. Jones is the region’s team leader for the Disaster Mortuary System of National Disaster Medical Services.

Jim Ferland, administrator for the State Medical Examiner’s Office, said the state’s licensed medical examiners also have been in contact with officials in New York and are prepared to go if needed.

Gary Smith, owner of Brookings-Smith funeral home in Bangor, said what New York funeral directors might need is coverage for their funeral homes while they deal with the current crisis faced by the city.

But Smith warned that the process of body identification could take many, many months.

Recalling a military plane crash in Greenville, Smith said it took two weeks to positively identify the nine people on board.

In New York they are dealing with thousands of dead people.

“I’ll tell you, after these bodies are recovered, there is a long period of time when nothing happens. The first issue here is recovery. These bodies are taken to morgues and literally nothing happens for a while because the concentration is elsewhere,” Smith said.

On Wednesday, Barnes said the state licensing bureau in Augusta had called him and asked for a list of all licensed funeral directors and embalmers in the state prepared to go to New York.

“We provided them that list because calls have been coming in here constantly since this happened,” Barnes said.

Firefighters and other emergency personnel also have offered their services through the Maine Emergency Management Agency, but so far they have not been needed.

“We have had hundreds of offers of help,” said Jay Bradshaw of Emergency Management Services. “Right now, however, New York is saying please don’t send anyone. They have all the help that they need, and more just adds to the confusion. That’s a very hard thing for emergency workers to accept because they are action-oriented and an amazing number of them just feel the need to be there and help.”

Bradshaw noted that, unfortunately, the greater need may be for funeral directors and medical examiners.

Barnes said state and national disaster-relief services are well-organized for funeral directors.

“So far we have not been called upon, but we have a large number ready to go if needed,” Barnes said.

Ferland said no medical examiners had been called yet either, but added a forensic dentist from Auburn had been asked to go to New York and was preparing to do so.

Commenting on the large number – possibly several thousand – of body bags and caskets that may be needed in New York, Smith said those orders would go directly to the manufacturers of those items.

“They, I assume, would require extra production and that would be dealt with directly through the manufacturer,” Smith said.