Infant death is hard for hospital personnel as well as the family. Transporting the mortal remains can be painful and awkward. Peaceful Memories, of Memories Unlimited, has created the Preshand System™ to give nurses and funeral directors a discreet and respectful way to handle, transport and present a demised infant.
Memories Unlimited offers a range of earth-friendly, hand-crafted paper memorial offerings, including Peaceful Return™ urns, Peaceful Memories Trio™ of memento items, and a Keepsake Impressions Kit™. At the ICCFA convention and expo, they showed all of these products along with the Preshand System. Preshand is a combination of the words “presentation” and “handling.”
“Sometimes, the transportation of an infant from the NICU to pathology or the morgue can be an awkward scenario for the caregiver. The feedback they gave us is they’d like a better way to do it and that’s what we came up with,” said Brent Williams with Memories Unlimited.
The system includes five different sizes of infant-sized inserts, a presentation basket, and a size-appropriate transport bag. For those families who wish to view the remains and say their goodbyes, the inserts include a purple fabric coverlet and a nesting pillow to soften the appearance within the presentation basket.
After the presentation, the insert is moved into the handling part of the Preshand system. The inserts have ID tags on one end and an impermeable layer to contain fluid leakage. The lid is secured with a dark green fabric ribbon. Each insert has a message on a tag, which has proven to be very meaningful for the caregivers in hospitals.
The tag reads, “Little One, know that all who have shared in your care have done so with tenderness, respect and dignity. By tying these ribbons, we say goodbye to you, and place you in the care and hands of another.”
“We’ve found that people in hospital departments have saved these tags. Then some take the extra step of once a year acknowledging all those they have said goodbye to,” said Williams.
The inserts fit into a dark green carrier bag, which enables hospital personnel to discreetly take the remains to the morgue or pathology. “We’re getting a lot of positive feedback from funeral directors who appreciate being able to pick up the infant this way as well, as opposed to in a bag or a blanket,” added Williams.
In some states, the hand-crafted paper inserts can also be used as a cremation container. To contact the company, visit www.MemoriesUnlimited.com.
