Answering Service

The Vendor is required to provide for professional answering service to maintain an on-going 24-hour communications network to fulfill its program time sensitive activities.
- Body Donation Program and has the authority and control of “unclaimed” decedent bodies in the State, and pre-registered “donors” decedent bodies to be used to support and advance medical education and research study.
- The Board receives approximately 3800 decedent bodies annually. Incoming death notifications and calls are received from hospital, nursing homes, decedent’s families and friends, police authorities, physicians, medical examiners, forensic investigators, and the public at large, etc.
- Outgoing communications shall include notifications to contracted funeral and mortuary transport services and other individuals in response to inquiries.
- The average counts from the previous six (6) months usage for reference ONLY;
• Inbound Calls - 710
• Outbound Calls - 315
• Patched Calls - 60
- An efficient response to telephonic Reports of Deaths of pre-registered donors and unclaimed decedent bodies and to notify the appropriate designated mortuary transport services to initiate the timely removal and transport of those decedent bodies.
- An immediate Board response to emergency communications, and a timely reply to officials and the public regarding program activities when the Board office is closed.
- The Answering Service shall provide telephone coverage for the Board between the hours of 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m., Monday through Friday and all day (24 hours) on weekends, holidays, and at other times when the Board’s office is closed.
- When the Board office is closed, telephone calls shall be electronically diverted and forwarded to a responsive telephone number provided by the Answering Service. Alternative contact plan may be implemented during phone service problems.
- Receiving Reports of Deaths or death notifications for the removal of decedents, the Answering Service shall obtain available information from the individual reporting the death to meet or exceed the Board specifications and immediately notify the mortuary removal service designated by the Board based on the location of the decedent body in state.
- The Answering Service shall refer all requests for general information and program inquiries to the Board during normal office hours.
- The Answering Service shall convey all written and oral communications and information received on behalf of the Board during the period telephone coverage in the form and manner specified by the Board to the individuals designated by the Board.
- The Caller shall be asked:
• Their name and phone number;
• Decedent’s full name;
• Decedent’s home address;
• Decedent’s date of birth;
• Date and time of death;
• Decedent’s status, donor or unclaimed;
• Cause of death or treatment prognosis;
• If any known infectious conditions;
• Location address and county of the place of death or location of the body [the body must be within the state. If out of state, caller shall be advised to contact the police in their state for assistance in accordance to that states’ regulations];
• If hospital//hospice facility or a home residential address. Facilities should be advised to print a copy of the decedent’s face or data sheet and provide to the transporter on arrival at facility;
- The Answering Service shall communicate all information to transporter at the time of notification. If contact with the designated transporter is not reached on initial attempt, the Answering Service shall retry within thirty (30) minutes.