My Two Cents Worth

From the Desk of the Executive Secretary:

My Two Cents Worth--

Mack55

Last Updated: Saturday, June 8, 2013

The next KSBMA board meeting is scheduled for: Thursday, July 18, 2013.

The Other Side, an article written by Ralph Buckner, appears in the June 2013 edition of The Director, the magazine of the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA.) A very moving article about the death of Mr. Buckner's 18 year old daughter, Shipley.

ConnectingDirectors.com is reporting that Service Corporation International (SCI) has announced the signing of a definitive agreement with Stewart Enterprises, Inc. to acquire all of Stewart's outstanding shares of Class A and Class B common stock.

As you heard me say MANY times in the past, I'm a big statistics nut (except for my Royals record in May 2013) . . . That being said, The Cremationist of North America's Vol. 48, No. 4 issue has the latest CANA Cremation Statistics including projections to 2016. CANA's numbers show that Kansas had 6,853 cremations in 2006 and 8,970 in 2010--an increase of 2.2% per year with an increase of 8.7% from 2006 (28.0%) to 2010 (36.7%.) CANA predicts that in year 2016, the Kansas cremation rate will be 47.7%. An excellent read.

The American Society of Embalmers (ASE) is holding their 9th Annual Meeting on June 28, 2013 at Worsham College of Mortuary Science in Wheeling, Illinois. Check their web site for details. In ASE's October 2012 Embalmers Quarterly Journal there is some good information pertaining to the benefits of viewing prior to disposition, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) recommended adult immunization schedule and formaldehyde exposure product liability.

This is the link for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs resource page for funeral directors.

A CNBC Original/Documentary: "Death: It's a Living" aired at 8:00 p.m. CT on Thursday, January 31, 2013. CNBC describes the program . . . as a 24/7 fiercely competitive business that everyone will eventually confront . . . CNBC's Tyler Mathisen profiled professionals of the death industry.

Some interesting reading can be found in the October 2012 edition of The Director pertaining to Dr. Jacqueline Taylor's presentation at the 2012 NFDA Leadership Conference in July of 2012. Dr. Taylor expresses her thoughts relating to her work in progress regarding the identity of funeral service practitioners and is a good read. This is a presentation very similar to the one Dr. Taylor presented at the 2013 Tri-State Convention in Overland Park, Kansas.

Information on the Kansas Legislature relating to funeral related bills.

Crematory Operator Licensure Information Effective 12/1/2011, all cremations performed in the State of Kansas must be performed by Kansas licensed crematory operators. A list of all licensed crematory operators can be found at the Crematories By City page.

The Funeral Ethics Organization has an information guide, Your Funeral Consumer Rights in Kansas.

A reminder that if your funeral home wishes to return a medical device following authorization by the legal next-of-kin of the deceased, the number to call for Medtronic Neurological in Shawnee Mission, Kansas is (913) 469-8555. They will send funeral homes the proper mailing package upon request.

Please remember your renewal is not complete until all required paperwork has been received by the KSBMA office. This also applies when paying on-line. Licensees with continuing education due must submit that paperwork. Funeral homes must submit prefinanced funeral agreements.

Please contact us if you find any out-dated information or if links aren't working the way they should! We do our best to keep everything up to date, but your help and ideas are always appreciated!

House Bill 2083 Was introduced by the KSBMA and will require funeral homes that close to notify families with prefinanced funeral agreements of their closing. The bill passed the House, 117-1 and passed the Senate, 38-0. Governor Brownback approved the bill on 3/28/2011. The bill became law on July 1, 2011.

The 2011 Annual Summary of Vital Statistics can be found at 2011 Kansas Annual Summary of Vital Statistics.

I've updated statistics provided by the International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards (ICFSEB) to the KSBMA's Newsletter. Stats (and you know how much I enjoy stats) are from the National Board Examination (NBE).

Our current Rule Book is available on line at no cost or $5.00 per copy if ordering through our office. An updated rule book will be completed as time permits.

On August 1, 2010 the Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has announced that the 100% air cargo screening protocols for Human Remains (HR) shipments become effective. The screening for human remains shipped by passenger airliners in the USA went into effect in February 2009 at the 50% level. There are several web sites available with useful information that you may want to look at, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and American Airlines (AA) Cargo. TSA will require 100% screening of international air cargo headed to the United States by December 31, 2011.

Embalming Reports I know you've heard this from me in the past, but everyone should be using them--for a number of reasons! Kansas law doesn't require them, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be using them. It helps if a family asks questions after disposition or if remains are shipped via public transportation, and you are unable to recall the condition of the deceased prior to embalming, type/amount ot fluid used . . . Some examples of reports that I discovered searching the internet, include: Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 to just list a few. I suggest you contact your fluid salesperson or do some searching yourself for the one that fits your needs--or even put one together yourself, but require a signature, date and time.

PLEASE NOTE that some of the information on our web site is in pdf/Adobe Acrobat Reader format. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader already installed on your computer, please visit their site to download it.

KSBMA License Fees Our license fees will remain the same for the two year biennial licensing period of January 1, 2012 until December 31, 2013. This will mean that fees will have remained the same for eight (8) consecutive years, four (4) biennial licensure periods. As always, we do our best to not increase fees unless we absolutely have to.

Questions, Thoughts, Suggestions??? Please let me know if there is anything else you would like to see us include on this page or anywhere on our web site. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. Our contact information is listed below. My email address is: mack.smith@ksbma.ks.gov UPDATED 6-8-2013

Jaiden driving Ms. Addison

700 SW Jackson Street, Suite 904 - Topeka, Kansas 66603-3733
phone: (785) 296-3980 - fax: (785) 296-0891 - email: boma1@ksbma.ks.gov

Regular Business Hours: 8 a.m.-12 noon and 1:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday
We're a small agency, so sometimes we count on the answering machine or emails when we're not available.
Please leave us a message on our voice mail if we are unable to answer your call or send us an email at: boma1@ksbma.ks.gov