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20 December 2007
AxeMecha: How long does a human body keep when refrigerated?
I'd say 2 days tops. But it's hard to say exactly cuz the damn kids always stand there with the door wide open. Next time, most of it goes in the freezer, then refrigerate as needed. Sandwiches for a good month! One thing though - make sure zombification doesn't set in. Use your braains, don't lose 'em.
Depends what temperature its kept at. Up here when the ground is too frozen for half of the year to dig graves, bodies are kept for months before burial.
Probably depends on how you define "keeping". Also depends on the temperature of refrigeration. I seem to recall something like spoilage rate is doubled for every 3 degree Celsius rise in temperature. Will probably keep longer if gutted promptly. (why the fuck am I even commenting on this?)
Speaking from a tissue-recovery point of view (I work for a tissue bank - think bone and skin and corneas rather than livers and lungs), recovery must be made within the first 24hours of death regardless of refrigeration. After that 24hour period, tissues will no longer be suitable for transplant.
Good info so far. Thanks all! The reason I asked is I saw a funeral on the TVs last night that was 8 days after the character's death. It got me thinking, again, about the question. Why I wonder about these things is as troublesome to me as it is to others.
A somewhat appropriate book recommendation for this thread might be Out. A rather odd mystery novel from Japan. NYTimes review here. Anyone else read it?
DF, that book sounds good. I'm puttin' it on my list. Another book appropriate for this thread is Stiff. Unfortunately, it doesn't have body refrigeration data in it.
Dang, I keep forgetting to see if my library system has a copy of Stiff. Any other recommendations for books about the funeral business? Non-fiction preferred but fiction would be okay, too.
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