ACADEMY ANNOUNCES NEW CFSP DESIGNATIONS

The following Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice members earned their Certified Funeral Service Practitioner (CFSP) designation this week.  (2.9.10)

Keith M. Green, CFSP, Winston-Salem, NC

Charles John Graves, CFSP, Swannanoa, NC

NCEB DESIGNS PROGRAM TO ENHANCE RELATIONSHIPS

BETWEEN FUNERAL DIRECTORS AND NCEB

The North Carolina Eye Bank (NCEB) began a program designed to create and enhance relationships between Funeral Directors and the NCEB. During the months of January, February, and March of 2010 Funeral Directors from all over North Carolina will be coming to the NCEB to observe the consent and donation process and give feedback about the processes at their funeral home. Facilitating this interaction between Funeral Directors and NCEB staff ensures that both parties can run more efficiently and ultimately allow a simple and stress-free experience during a very difficult time for a grieving family.   

This program was created by Fred Jordan, Professional Development Specialist at the NCEB, and has been approved by the North Carolina Board of Funeral Service for 3 continuing education credits. The program has already had a fantastic response and here are some of the testimonies:

Please contact Fred Jordan at (336) 705-0253 if you would like to reserve a space in one of the sessions or for more information regarding this program. Additional program dates will be announced based on interest and participation. (2.2.10)

JANUARY 2010 EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI

The members of the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) join with the world community in expressing their heartfelt sympathies to those affected by the earthquake that devastated the island nation of Haiti on January 12, 2010.

Numerous members of NFDA have expressed interest in traveling to Haiti to assist with DMORT operations and to help local funeral directors preserve the dignity of those who died. At this time, NFDA staff is working with the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Haitian Consulate to determine the type of assistance needed from the funeral service community and when it might be safe to travel to Haiti. Unfortunately, all communication with Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital and hardest hit by the earthquake, has been cut off. In addition, NFDA has been unable to reach an NFDA-member firm located near the capital.

Therefore, NFDA members interested in volunteering in Haiti should call the association at 800-228-6332 (262-789-1880). NFDA staff is collecting members’ contact information in order to keep interested parties abreast of ways they might be able to assist the federal government and funeral service professionals in Haiti, should their service prove necessary. If you contact NFDA, please indicate if you hold a valid passport and how long you are willing to serve, as well as an email address or cell phone number to assist in rapid communication. Members should not travel to the affected areas on their own as conditions are severe; participating in a coordinated effort will make for an effective response to the needs of the Haitian people.

In addition, funeral directors should not contact Haitian funeral directors about shipping bodies once communication is restored. Haitian funeral directors in the affected areas have their own struggles now, and cannot accept bodies at this time.

NFDA is the world’s leading funeral service association, serving 19,000 individual members who represent more than 10,200 funeral homes in the United States and internationally. From its headquarters in Brookfield, Wis., and its Advocacy Division office in Washington, D.C., NFDA informs, educates and advocates to help members enhance the quality of service they provide to families. For more information, visit www.nfda.org. (1.14.10)

YEAR END NFDA NATIONAL ISSUES UPDATE

Please find below the end-of-year wrap-up of all the federal issues impacting funeral service from John Fitch of the National Funeral Directors Association Washington, DC Office (12.30.09):

NFDA Report on Key Federal Issues

NFDA Report on Small Business Provisions

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SURVEY

Funeral and allied professionals (in this survey, referred to as the “death care” sector) will play a significant role in a high fatality pandemic event. A high fatality pandemic will place enormous burdens on the death care and funeral service profession as a whole, and an effective response to this, and any other large-scale emergency event, requires a well-prepared workforce. Yet the ability and intentions of individuals within the sector are largely unknown.

To that end, researchers from Columbia University are conducting a large, national, web-based survey to assess the pandemic preparedness of the sector. We ask you to please give a few minutes of your time to help with this important research by following this link to complete the survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=2BTovmQ2tMJiS3n8ND3S5g_3d_3d.

Please only complete the questionnaire one time and please feel free to circulate this to any of your colleagues in the industry to complete as well. The survey is entirely voluntary. If you have any additional questions about this survey, please contact Dr. Robyn Gershon at Rg405@columbia.edu or at 212-305-1186. (12.7.09)

INFORMATION ON H1N1 VIRUS (SWINE FLU)