When it comes to procuring mortuary supplies for storage, the key is to strike a balance between having the optimum number of cadaver bags available for when you need them, without requiring surplus storage space for unnecessary stock. The main considerations for your facility are throughput and storage capacity, but in the sections below we will provide some broad guidelines for procuring body bags for your organisation, based on your sector and type of business.
Hospitals
Most large NHS hospitals, and many private facilities, have dedicated morgue facilities for the temporary storage of deceased patients. The volume of body bags you’ll need will therefore depend on the hospital’s size, morgue capacity, and the typical number of deceased patients that the hospital deals with at that time of year. In some hospitals, requirements may peak at certain times. A good rule of thumb for procurement is to calculate your average death rate per week based on averages from previous years. However, be careful of over relying on year-to-year averages when ordering your hospital body bags. It’s sensible to have more than you need as a buffer in case there is an unexpected requirement.
Care homes
Each care home will have its own guidelines for handling deceased residents, and the number of cadaver bags you’ll need will depend on the number of residents you care for, and your average death rate per month or season. Many care homes experience a spike in deaths over winter, but even at peak times, most care homes won’t need to store too many body bags, as many residents pass away in hospital or a hospice, rather than in the care home itself.
Funeral directors
Funeral directors are typically high throughput businesses with a regular need for funeral body bags, but the optimum volume for your business will depend on the size of your premises, the average number of funeral services you handle each month, and your storage capacity. We recommend procuring sufficient body bags to cover your average monthly requirement, plus a buffer of 10% to 20% to account for any unexpected increases in demand or delivery delays. For example, if you typically handle 50 funeral services per month, we recommend keeping at least 55 to 60 funeral body bags in storage for immediate use.
Planning for contingency
When procuring dead body bags, it’s always good to err on the side of caution and have contingency plans in place for unexpected situations, such as a surge in deaths during a pandemic, winter flu season, or a local disaster. We also recommend regularly reviewing your usage and adjusting your inventory accordingly.
We work with mortuary facilities across the UK to ensure timely deliveries and help our customers optimise their stock levels – for more information, please contact Slik Pak today by [clicking here].
