"Alternative container" means an unfinished
wood box or other nonmetal receptacle or enclosure, without ornamentation or a
fixed interior lining, that is designed for the encasement of human remains and
that is made of fiberboard, pressed wood, composition materials (with or
without an outside covering) or like materials that prevents the leakage of
body fluid.
"Authorized person" means that person or
persons upon whom a funeral director may reasonably rely when making funeral
arrangements, including but not limited to embalming, cremation, funeral
services, and the disposition of human remains pursuant to Iowa Code section
144C.5.
"Autopsy" means the postmortem examination
of a human remains.
"Board" means the board of mortuary
science.
"Body parts" means appendages or other
portions of the anatomy that are from a human body.
"Burial." See "Interment."
"Burial transit permit" means a legal
document authorizing the removal and transportation of a human remains.
"Casket" means a rigid container that is
designed for the encasement of human remains and that is usually constructed of
wood, metal, fiberglass, plastic or like material and ornamented and lined with
fabric.
"Cemetery" means an area designated for the
final disposition of human remains.
"Columbarium" means a structure, room or
space in a mausoleum or other building containing niches or recesses for
disposition of cremated remains.
"Cremated remains" means all the remains of
the cremated human body recovered after the completion of the cremation
process, including pulverization that leaves only bone fragments reduced to
unidentifiable dimensions and may include the residue of any foreign matter,
including casket material, bridgework or eyeglasses that were cremated with the
human remains.
"Cremation" means the technical process,
using heat and flame, that reduces human remains to bone fragments. The
reduction takes place through heat and evaporation. Cremation will include the
processing, and may include the pulverization, of the bone fragments.
"Cremation authorization form" means a form,
completed and signed by a funeral director and authorized person, to accompany
all human remains accepted for cremation.
"Cremation chamber" means the enclosed space
within which a cremation takes place.
"Cremation establishment" means any person,
partnership or corporation that is licensed by the board and provides any
aspect of cremation services.
"Cremation permit" means a permit issued by
a medical examiner allowing cremation for human remains.
"Cremation room" means the room in which the
cremation chamber is located.
"Crypt" means a chamber in a mausoleum of
sufficient size to contain casketed human remains.
"Custody" means immediate charge and control
exercised by a person or an authority.
"Dead body." See "Human
remains."
"Death certificate" means a legal document
containing vital statistics pertaining to the life and death of the
decedent.
"Decedent." See "Human
remains."
"Disinterment" means to remove a human
remains from its place of final disposition.
"Disinterment permit" means a permit from
the department of health and human services that allows the removal of a human
remains from its original place of burial, entombment or interment for the
purpose of autopsy or reburial.
"Disinterment permit number" means the
number assigned to a disinterment permit by the department of health and human
services, giving the funeral director the authority to remove a human remains
from its place of final disposition.
"Embalming" means the disinfection or
temporary preservation of human remains, entire or in part, by the use of
chemical substances, fluids or gases in the body, or by the introduction of
same into the body by vascular or hypodermic injections, or by surface
application into or on the organs or cavities for the purpose of temporary
preservation or disinfection.
"Embalming record" means a record completed
by the licensed funeral director or registered intern for each body embalmed in
Iowa, or otherwise prepared for disposition by the licensee. "Embalming record"
includes, at a minimum, a case analysis and a detailed listing of the
procedures or treatments or both performed on the deceased.
"Entombment" means to place a casketed body
or an urn containing cremated remains in a structure such as a mausoleum,
crypt, tomb or columbarium.
"Final disposition" means the burial,
interment, cremation, removal from the state, or other disposition of a dead
body or fetus.
"Funeral ceremony" means a service
commemorating the decedent.
"Funeral director" means a person licensed
by the board to practice mortuary science.
"Funeral establishment" means a place of
business as defined and licensed by the board devoted to providing any aspect
of mortuary science.
"Funeral rule" means the Federal Trade
Commission Funeral Rule, 16
CFR §
453.4, as amended to 1994.
"Funeral services" means any services that
may be used to (1) care for and prepare human remains for burial, cremation or
other final disposition; and (2) arrange, supervise or conduct the funeral
ceremony or final disposition of human remains.
"Holding facility" means an area isolated
from the general public that is designated for the temporary retention of human
remains.
"Human remains" means a deceased human being
for which a death certificate or fetal death certificate is required.
"Interment" means to place a casketed human
remains or an urn containing cremated remains in the ground.
"Intern" means a person registered by the
board to practice mortuary science under the direct supervision of a preceptor
certified by the board.
"Mausoleum" means an aboveground structure
designed for entombment of human remains.
"Medical examiner" means a public official
whose primary function is to investigate and determine the cause of death when
death may be thought to be from other than natural causes.
"Memorial ceremony" means a service
commemorating the decedent.
"Niche" means a recess or space in a
columbarium or mausoleum used for placement of cremated human remains.
"Preparation room" means a room in a funeral
establishment where human remains are prepared, sanitized, embalmed or held for
ceremonies and final disposition.
"Pulverization" means a process following
cremation that reduces identifiable bone fragments into granulated
particles.
"Removal" means the act of taking a human
remains from the place of death or place where the human remains is being held
to a funeral establishment or other designated place.
"Removal technician" means a person
registered with the board to perform removals.
"Scattering area" means a designated area
where cremated remains may be commingled with other cremated remains.
"Temporary cremation container" means a
durable receptacle designed for short-term retention of cremated
remains.
"Their own dead" refers to the legal
authority the authorized person has regarding a human remains.
"Topical disinfection" means the direct
application of chemical substances on the surface of a human remains for the
purpose of temporary preservation or disinfection.
"Transfer." See "Removal."
"Universal precautions" means a concept of
care based upon the assumption that all blood and body fluids, and materials
that have come into contact with blood or body fluids, are potentially
infectious as prescribed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC).
"Urn" means a receptacle designed for
permanent retention of cremated remains.
