Section 135.02. Definitions.

  In this chapter:

(1)  "Common carrier" has the meaning prescribed for "common motor carrier" in s. 194.01 (1) , Stats., and in addition includes a vehicle using rails, air or water to transport persons or property.

(2)  "Cremation permit" has the meaning prescribed for a release to cremate in sub. (18) .

(3)  "Death certificate" means the form prescribed and supplied by the department which contains such items of information as the department judges necessary to identify the decedent and to certify the cause or causes of death.

(4)  "Department" means the Wisconsin department of health services.

(5)  "Disinterment permit" means the form prescribed by the coroner or medical examiner to authorize removal of a human corpse from a grave or tomb and which contains items of information that are necessary to identify the deceased, the date and place of death, the current place of interment, the intended place of interment, the name of the person requesting the disinterment and the name of the person in charge of the disinterment.

(6)  "Disposition" means, in reference to a human corpse or stillbirth, burial, entombment in a mausoleum or separate vault, temporary storage, cremation or donation for scientific research or teaching use.

(7)  "Embalming" has the meaning designated in s. DHS 136.02 (1) .

(8)  "Fetal death report" means the form prescribed and supplied by the department for reporting a stillbirth resulting from miscarriage, of gestational age 20 weeks or more or having a birthweight of 350 grams or more.

(9)  "Final disposition" means, in reference to a human corpse or stillbirth, burial, entombment in a mausoleum or separate vault, cremation, delivery to a university or school under s. 157.02 (3) , Stats., or delivery to a medical or dental school anatomy department under s. 157.06 , Stats.

(10)  "Funeral director" means a person who is licensed under s. 445.04 , Stats., to prepare human corpses for burial or other disposition, or to direct and supervise the burial or other disposition of human corpses.

(11)  "Gestational age" means, in reference to stillbirths, the age of a fetus expressed in weeks, dating from the first day of the mother's last normal menses to the date of delivery.

(12)  "Immediate family" means, in order of decisionmaking priority, spouse, adult children, parents, adult brothers and sisters, grandparents, and adult grandchildren of the decedent.

(13)  "Interment" means, in reference to a human corpse, burial or entombment in a mausoleum or separate vault.

(14)  "Local health officer" has the meaning prescribed in s. 250.01 (5) , Stats.

(15)  "Local registrar" means the county register of deeds or the city health officer in a city which has been approved by the state registrar under s. 69.04 (1) , Stats., as a registration district.

(16)  "Notice of removal" means the form prescribed and supplied by the department or reproduced from the form prescribed and supplied by the department for notifying and recording the removal of a human corpse from a hospital or nursing home by a funeral director, member of the immediate family or other authorized person.

(17)  "Registered apprentice funeral director" means a person who is issued a certificate of apprenticeship under s. 445.095 (1) , Stats., to be employed as an apprentice to a funeral director.

(18)  "Release to cremate" means the form supplied by the county coroner or medical examiner which provides written permission required under s. 979.10 (1) , Stats., for cremation of a human corpse and which contains information necessary to identify the deceased, the date and place of death, a description of the cause and manner of death, the name of the person requesting the cremation, the name of the funeral director or person acting in place of the funeral director and the date and time the release takes effect, and which specifies that no authorization is given to override the wishes of the next of kin.

(19)  "Release to embalm" means the form supplied by the county coroner or medical examiner which provides written permission required under s. 979.01 (4) , Stats., for embalming a human corpse in the case of a death subject to investigation under s. 979.01 , Stats., and which contains information necessary to identify the deceased, the date and place of death, the name of the funeral director or person acting in place of the funeral director and which specifies that no authorization is given to override the wishes of the next of kin.

(20)  "Report for final disposition" means the form prescribed and supplied by the department or reproduced from the form prescribed and supplied by the department for the purpose of recording the facts of a death and reporting those facts to the coroner or medical examiner of jurisdiction under s. 69.18 (3) , Stats., and to the local registrar in the registration district in which death was pronounced. This form serves as the official "burial transit permit" for transporting a human corpse out of state or by common carrier.

(21)  "Stillbirth" means a fetus born dead, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, with death indicated by the fact that after expulsion or extraction from the woman, the fetus does not breathe or show any other evidence of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord or definite movement of the voluntary muscles.

(22)  "Universal precautions" means universal blood and body fluid precautions to be practiced by funeral directors and registered apprentice funeral directors in removing bodies and preparing them for burial or entombment or for transportation, as recommended by the U.S. public health service's centers for disease control, to prevent transmission of blood-borne and body fluid-borne infections.

History: Cr. Register, January, 1993, No. 445 , eff. 2-1-93; correction in (14) made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats., Register, August, 1995, No. 476 ; corrections in (4) and (7) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 6. and 7., Stats., Register January 2009 No. 637 .

Note

For cremation after burial, entombment or donation, a cremation permit must be obtained under s. DHS 135.06 (3) (a) . Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 A copy of the universal precautions may be obtained from the Bureau of Occupational Health, Division of Public Health, P.O. Box 2659, Madison, WI 53703. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Inquiries concerning death certificates, fetal death reports, notices of removal, reports for final disposition and disinterment permits should be sent to Vital Records Section, Division of Health Care Access and Accountability, P.O. Box 309, Madison, Wisconsin 53701. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1