NEW ORLEANS — As we observe one year since the pandemic turned our lives upside down, we’re getting a unique perspective on the immense toll COVID-19 has taken on so many local families.
If hospitals are considered the frontline of the pandemic, then funeral homes would be the last line.
Tiffany Simmons is the general manager at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home. As the world shifted to social distancing, Zoom meetings and grocery delivery, Simmons and her team of so-called “death care workers” braced themselves for COVID’s seemingly unrelenting cruelty.
“It’s monumental, it’s unprecedented. I don’t think I could’ve been educated or trained anyone for what we have endured the last 12 months,” she said. “It’s the most humbling time.”
Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home handled its first COVID related funeral in mid-March last year. In the weeks and months that followed, Simmons says the number of those funerals exploded to a point where they just stopped counting. She says if she had to estimate, it would be 500 since last year.
“I think when we got into the pandemic it was something that we monitored on a regular basis. Then when the pandemic wasn’t going away and then we got six, seven, eight months in we said this is the new norm and we can’t monitor this anymore,” Simmons said. “We have to leave that to the hospitals and to the state and we just have to focus on the families.”
Dominic Noncada supervises Lake Lawn’s unit that goes into homes, hospitals and nursing facilities to retrieve those who have died. They’ll then prepare the body for the final viewing. In the first surge of COVID cases and deaths, Moncada says there was uncertainty.
“Going into the calls it was scary at first. We were adapting as we went,” Moncada said.
They then established protocols with personal protective equipment, disinfectant and whatever was needed to treat an already heartbreaking situation with safety, but also dignity.
“We were sending people in what would normally be a one person call with two technicians so they would help support each other. It was just these little things to help make it easier and also better serve our families as well because they were the ones who were really grieving hard,” Moncada said.
As the pandemic persisted it personally hit some of the death care workers.
“By the summertime, there was a handful of us back there that knew people that were passing that were in our care,” Moncada said. “Neighbors, someone’s mom, someone’s cousin someone’s family and you know how tight it is in New Orleans.”
“We had one employee that lost two family members from COVID and still they came back to work right away because they said there are families that are just like mine that need to grieve and I need to be here to help that happen,” Tiffany Simmons said.
In the year since the pandemic began, we’ve gotten glimpses of the strain and stress in trying to save lives. But what about the toll of seeing a constant amount of loss?
“I think we’re silent about it right now or I think we’ve just learned to just adapt and rely on each other. I think that we realized as hard of a day as we were having these families were having a much harder day. We have a company that’s done a lot for us and provides for employees if we needed to speak with someone, but we really have rallied around each other,” Simmons said.
In Louisiana, more than 9,600 people have died from COVID-19 so far. With vaccinations now underway, there’s a chance to reflect.
“I would have to say if there was anything positive that came out of the last 12 months is the humanity and the camaraderie that I’ve seen,” Simmons said.
“I just want to live life to the fullest right now. Just tell anyone you know that you love them, and you care for them and you appreciate them. And for yourself, appreciate yourself and just live it to the fullest,” Moncada said.
Some advice for life from those who care for the departed.