Who To Call First

Making the first phone calls

The staff here at Chapel Ridge Funeral Home and Cremation Centre in Markham understands how difficult it can be immediately after a loved one has passed. But it’s important to focus on the next steps to ensure everything is done properly.

1. Get a legal pronouncement of death. If no doctor is present, you’ll need to contact someone to do this:

• If the person passes at home under hospice care, call the hospice nurse, who can declare the death and help facilitate the transport of the deceased
• If the person passes at home without hospice care, call 911, and have in-hand a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) document if it exists. Without one, paramedics will generally start emergency procedures and, except where permitted to pronounce death, take the person to an emergency room for a doctor to make the declaration

2. Arrange for transportation of the body. If no autopsy is needed, the deceased can be picked up by a funeral home

3. Notify the person’s doctor or the coroner

4. Notify close family and friends (Ask some to contact others)

5. Handle care of dependents and pets if applicable

6. Call the person’s employer, if he or she was working. Request info about benefits and any pay due. Ask whether there was a life-insurance policy through the company

7. Arrange for funeral and burial or cremation. Search the person’s documents to find out whether there was a prepaid burial plan. Ask a friend or family member to go with you to the funeral home

8. If the person was in the military or belonged to a fraternal or religious group, contact that organization. It may have burial benefits or conduct funeral services

9. Ask a friend or relative to keep an eye on the person’s home, answer the phone, collect mail, throw food out, and water plants

For more information on what’s involved with funeral planning contact us.