Los Angeles County Municipal Code Part VI Morticians and Cemeteries

SEC. 28 - INSTRUCTIONS TO FUNERAL DIRECTORS

A.

GENERAL

The Department of Health Services assist funeral directors in compliance with State Laws. Consult the Public Health Registrar for advice and assistance. Funeral directors must apply for burial permits within five days from date of death (Section 10377, Health and Safety Code).

B.

DEPARTMENT OF MEDICAL EXAMINER'S CASES (Section 27491, Health and Safety Code)

Any funeral Director or embalmer called in a death from an unknown cause or suspected communicable disease must immediately notify the Department of Medical Examiner and be guided by its order. (Section 7300, 7301, 10225 and 10250, Health and Safety Code.)

Among those cases requiring inquiry by the Department of Medical Examiner are: "… deaths known or suspected as due to contagious disease and constituting a public hazard …" A Department of Medical Examiner referral will not be necessary for diagnosed cases of contagious disease, since the local procedures and the action of the Department of Health Services after notification will be the defense against any public hazard.

Cases of possible but not diagnosed contagious diseases, such as possible meningitis or possible pulmonary tuberculosis when an autopsy is not contemplated, shall be referred to the Department of Medical Examiner for diagnosis following which notification of proper authorities will be made.

Deaths from the following reportable diseases shall be Department of Medical Examiner cases:

Botulism

Food or metal poisoning

Hepatitis (Type B, serum)

Rabies

Tetanus

C.

QUARANTINABLE DISEASE REGULATIONS

Funeral directors who serve the territory of the County of Los Angeles Department of Health Service (both unincorporated areas and cities under contract) must observe rules and regulations for the control of quarantinable diseases (Section 3110, Health and Safety Code).

Hearse or Mortuary Car. Only a hearse or mortuary car can convey the body of any person dead of a communicable disease except when that person died while being transported. An exception is made when the body is prepared for burial and enclosed in a casket and transportation case.

Embalming. The funeral director or embalmer must immediately report to the District Health Officer the name and address of the deceased person and all known facts relating to the cause of death, if cause is a suspected communicable disease.

Funeral directors are urged to determine the cause of death whenever possible and to adhere to careful hand washing and other protective techniques.

Transportation—Common Carrier

a.

Except as provided in subdivision (b), the bodies of persons who have died from any cause shall not be received for transportation by a common carrier unless the body has been embalmed and prepared by a licensed embalmer and placed in a sound casket and enclosed in a transportation case.

b.

A dead body, which cannot be embalmed or is in state of decomposition, shall be received for transportation by a common carrier if the body is placed in an airtight metal casket enclosed in a strong transportation case or in a sound casket enclosed in an airtight metal or metal-lined transportation case. (Section 7355, Health and Safety Code.)

Funeral Services. The funeral director or the District Public Health Registrar will immediately notify the Chief, Public Health Investigation, when a death from any quarantinable disease is certified. The Chief, Public Health Investigation, or his representative, will supervise these funerals.

a.

Plague, Smallpox. No services are permitted and interment is under strict supervision of the Department of Health Services for these diseases.

b.

Typhus Fever (louse-borne). There are no restrictions if patient had been hospitalized and deloused before death and family contacts have been deloused. Otherwise, funeral services are "Private."

c.

Cholera, Diphtheria.

Deaths in quarantinable household.

Private funerals may be required.

The following will apply:

1. No restrictions are imposed where there is no attendance by quarantined contacts provided casket remains closed.

2. In suspected diphtheria without bacteriological diagnosis, funeral directors must immediately notify the District Health Officer. Refrain from using formaldehyde or any disinfectant until the District Health Officer or Coroner obtains a specimen for laboratory examination.

3. All funeral directors must notify the cemetery that such funerals are "Private" and the cemeteries must assist in carrying out these regulations.

4. After the body is prepared for burial, the parents or immediate family members over age 15 may identify the body but without contacting it. Immediately after identification, the casket will be closed and fastened permanently. A glass "sealer" may be used if the family desires. If there is no identification, the casket must be closed and fastened permanently before being transported.

5. Only members of a quarantined household over 15 years of age may attend services to be held only at the grave. Passes for this attendance must be signed by the District Health Officer or his representative. (Section 10376, Health and Safety Code.) Trips to and from the quarantined premises must be made in a private conveyance. Family members must remain apart from others who attend the services.

(Ord. 2023-0032 § 15, 2023.)

SEC. 29 - INSTRUCTIONS TO CEMETERY AUTHORITIES

A.

GENERAL

The County of Los Angeles, Department of Health Services, will assist cemetery authorities in compliance with State laws.

B.

STATE STATUTES

Cemetery authorities in the territory served by the County of Los Angeles, Department of Health Services, must adhere to the following statutes:

Interment or cremation or other disposition of any body (including a fetus of 20 or more weeks uterogestation) requires a burial or cremation permit. (Section 10375 and 10175, Health and Safety Code.)

Interment of the body of a person dead of a quarantinable disease requires a burial permit marked by the words "Private Funeral."

All cemetery authorities will immediately report to the District Health Officer all requests from funeral directors or others for interment of a body dead of a quarantinable disease.

In graveside services of persons of a quarantinable disease, all cemetery authorities will be governed by the rules and regulations for funeral directors.

Questions regarding the shipment of bodies to foreign countries should be directed to the Public Health Investigation unit of the Department of Health Services.