Doctors rarely remove battery-powered implants themselves. Embalmers usually remove them.
If a battery-powered biomechanical aid is present, it is standard and accepted practice for the certifying doctor to request that embalmers remove the device (or devices).
This needs to be clearly documented on Form AB
The standard Form AB offers 2 options for the certifying doctor
* I am satisfied that the body does not contain a cardiac pacemaker or any other biomechanical aid.
* I have removed from the body a cardiac pacemaker or other biomechanical aid, namely:
This does not accommodate the current usual practice.
If an implanted device is present, the doctor can cross out (and initial) both options and should write on the certificate that “a pacemaker (or ICD or nerve stimulator) is present and needs to be removed”
An alternative version of Form AB includes a third option:
* I am satisfied that the body does not contain a cardiac pacemaker or any other biomechanical aid.
* I have removed from the body a cardiac pacemaker or other biomechanical aid, namely:
* A pacemaker or other relevant biomechanical aid is still present and needs to be removed.
If a battery-powered implant is present, the first 2 options can be crossed out (and initialled), leaving the third option clear.
Verbal messages to the funeral director are unreliable - partly because families sometimes change funeral directors “mid-stream” and there is a compounding risk of miscommunication.
The embalmer can then issue a separate certificate to be viewed by the medical referee, confirming that the biomechanical device has been removed. This form is endorsed by the Ministry of Health.