Body bags create an environmental barrier between a dead body and the external environment, preventing leaks and spillages of bodily fluids, and safeguarding the corpse from outside elements, insects, and microorganisms that could hasten decomposition.
This allows bodies to be stored and moved more easily, reducing the health and safety and contamination risk to staff and minimising distress to members of the public.
Body bags can inhibit the decomposition process in two ways:
1) Oxygen restriction
Body bags create an airtight environment around the body with a partial internal vacuum that limits the exposure of the corpse to oxygen, restricting the propagation of airborne aerobic (oxygen-dependent) bacteria. This will postpone decomposition and slow the process once it starts. The earlier that a body is placed inside a body bag following death, the more effective this enclosed environment will be at preventing the action of aerobic bacteria to instigate decomposition.
2) Temperature control
Another key factor in decomposition is temperature. Warmer temperatures favour the proliferation of bacterial agents and the activity of microorganisms, which is why bodies are stored in low-temperature environments and also why they decompose more quickly at higher temperatures. A body bag allows better temperature management, enabling the corpse to be stored at low temperatures without occurring damage. The body bag itself may also act as shade, protecting the corpse from direct sunlight when stored temporarily in outdoor conditions.
However, the material of the body bag may make it more difficult for heat to escape, creating a higher temperature internal environment – especially when the bag is placed in sunlight. Even with heat-efficient body bags, we recommend removing the body to a morgue or temperature-controlled holding area as quickly as possible to prevent early decomposition.
Do body bags prevent decomposition?
No. The oxygen and temperature-restricted environment of a body bag encourage the better preservation of dead bodies in advance of funerary treatment, coronary inspection, long-term storage, or forensic processes. They do not, however, prevent decomposition entirely. The onset of putrefaction begins almost immediately following death, due to the action of anaerobic (non-oxygen dependent) bacteria that live within the digestive tract during life. A corpse stored in a body bag at ambient temperatures will, therefore, begin to decompose in the normal pattern, albeit at a slower rate.
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Slik Pak provides discrete, high-quality body bags for mortuary practitioners in the NHS, funerary care, emergency services, and private sectors. To request a quote or to find out more about our products, please call 0161 367 1205 today.
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