In choosing between someone with direct personal experience who has almost 2000 posts on a very good "being prepared" forum, and a government publication, I'll go with the experience everytime.

;-)

Good. We'll let it Rest in Piece(s), then. ;-)

Hey! Whatever became of The Notion,Soylent Green! Standard Disclaimer,for one of a Well-Known Member Here!

&The Most Infamous Disease of All? Malaria!

I guess I'm a bit compulsive about it, but...

1) Red cross isn't governmental.

2) Red cross has substantial hands-on experience dealing with dead people.

3) Bear in mind the difference between these recommendations.

Red cross does not recommend lime because it doesn't really have any benefits to their objective, which is to deal with dead bodies in a way that preserves dignity, makes the bodies decompose as well as making later identification easier. Sickening smell is not considered - bury them according to procedure and the smell is gone. Red cross is one organization that has the capability to organize this work on a large scale.


Art_In_Fl recommends lime because the smell is, frankly, sickening. Not the kind of smell you'd want to have around your house or your camp. Makes your life a bit easier. Not really a priority for red cross or similar relief organizations, but a big difference for you as an individual.


Having a bit lying around is much different than saying it is one of the first things you should be flying into a mass casualty scenario. Hence the, "no, not important" conclusion of the red cross pdf.

Art Definitely Hit the nail on the head! Lime is also used in Concrete/Cement as a Catalyst, for quicker drying times.The smell of Decomposition,Will stay with you for the rest of your Life,Once you've been exposed to it!Lime has been used for Centuries,In this Purpose,& I'm Surprised FEMA,Red Cross,etc. Haven't Suggested it's Usefullness,Especially in the Present Day,with RNA/DNA Testing Capabilities that are so Established!

Doesn't McDs purposely waft that smell into shopping malls.

Man!I must be a Necro-Cannibal,I just ate there Yesterday!:)Hey,You know McD's is Scottish,Right?:)

If I could just interrupt this lightheartedness for a moment to give cudos to the folks who help with this very difficult task. I'm thinking now specifically of the recent tragic events in Indonesia, the Philippines, and elsewhere around the world, and the grief-stricken families.

When I was about 18 or 19 years old, my future father-in-law and I were called upon to hand-dig a grave in a very small country cemetery on his farm in the midwest. It was about January 15th and smack dab in the middle of one of the worst and longest cold snaps on record--consistent 30 below zero F temperatures dropping down to -75 degrees with the windchill. We had to start with axes to chop chunks of frozen earth down through the 36 inch frost layer before we could even begin to use shovels. It was backbreaking labor and took two solid days. There was barely room for us to dig down in the hole with our many layers of clothes on. The wind was howling and it was snowing throughout the process. The whole thing reminded me of a scene from Dr. Zhivago. We barely finished in time for the service.

After the service, I was left alone to fill the hole and generally clean up. Thankfully, I was able to partially refill the hole using the end-loader shovel on my future father-in-law's Massey-Harris tractor. However the last bit had to be done by hand, and I could only partially do that because much of the dirt had refrozen into a solid block of ice.

The graveside service was for a fairly prominent farmer in the area, and I distinctly remember a very large stack of flowers that was left next to the grave as I was finishing up. They were mostly bunches of roses, and when I tried to pick them up to use them to cover the partially filled grave, the frozen blossoms shattered like glass. It was a very poignant reminder of the fragility of life, and the struggles we sometimes face while trying to survive.

We were paid $25 total for our 2 days of work and glad to get it.

Sotto, your description reminds me of reading some old-time, first-person accounts of life and death in the Midwest, when the body was held through winter and buried in spring.

Sue