Why LoadAlone was invented

NEW CITY, NY, USA, March 7, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. In the case of the groundbreaking invention LoadAloneTM, that is very true.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Murphy to talk to him about how he came to invent LoadAloneTM.

What made you become a Funeral Director?

Murphy: I grew up in a funeral home. I went on my first removal when I was about 12 years old helping my father on a call. My dad bought me a suit and I helped out at funerals sometimes acting as a pall bearer. I studied to become an environmental chemist and moved away from home to sow my wild oats. After 2 years on the Bering Sea as a fishery biologist working 18 hours a day and smelling from fish, my dad’s job started looking much better.

How long have you been a Funeral Director?

Murphy: I completed Mortuary School at Simmons School of Mortuary Science with a degree in Mortuary Science in Syracuse, NY and got my license in 1996. I did my residency with my father, and I then got more experience working in a funeral home in Geneva, NY before joining my dad fulltime.

How long has Paul L Murphy & Sons Funeral Home been in business?

Murphy: My dad bought the business in 1968. I did my residency in 1995 and I joined permanently in 1997 and my brother joined in 1998.

What made you invent LoadAloneTM?

Murphy: I was hit by a driver and became a paraplegic. I was told I would never walk again, but I was determined to prove them wrong. After a few years of rehabilitation, I knew if I could stand and push a shopping cart, I could push a stretcher. I went back to work doing removals but had to pay someone to meet me to help load the bodies into the removal vehicle. Paying someone cut into the profits. I needed to figure out another way. While working as a fishery biologist we used you load a hundred tons of fish onto the boat using a winch. I used that knowledge and experience to create a remote-control system to load and unload bodies in and out of removal vehicles. I was successful and have been granted a patent for LoadAloneTM.

How did you make Paul L. Murphy & Sons a lift-free Funeral Home?

Murphy: Profit was once again a motivator. My dad is 85. My brother had hernia problems and I am a paraplegic. If we didn’t make ourselves lift free, we would need to hire additional help. We installed a lift in the embalming room. We have an elevator from the first to second floor and we installed casket rollers so that none of us need to lift. The final piece was LoadAloneTM, so we didn’t have to lift into and out of the removal vehicle.

What are the benefits and advantages of being Lift-Free?

Murphy: There are many benefits. Obviously, there is a profit benefit by not needing to hire a second person for removals or to help lift inside the funeral home. There is a reduction in back injuries, shoulder injuries, strains, and hernias. Fewer injuries mean longer careers. Again, increased profit because with fewer injuries, worker’s comp premiums will, in the long run, be reduced.

You keep talking about injuries, how prevalent are they for Funeral Directors?

Murphy: OSHA stats are not kept for Funeral Homes because most homes have too few employees. They are kept for ambulance workers. Ambulance workers have three (3) times the lifting injuries than either construction workers or any other occupation. Ambulances are equipped with $55,000 Stryker lift systems to reduce injuries and insurance rates. As Funeral Directors, we probably have a higher rate of injury because most Funeral Homes, before LoadAloneTM, had no lift system and we have less help on removals than ambulance workers. Additionally, with an 80% injury rate, 75% of those who have injuries will have a reoccurrence of the injury. That means 60% of all FDs will retire with recurring occupational injuries.

You talk about OSHA, how familiar are you with OSHA and their regulations?

Murphy: In my work building LoadAloneTM I took courses and became an OSHA Certified Consultant in 2019. I learned that LoadAloneTM satisfied OSHA Regulations regarding lifting. OSHA regulations state that an employer MUST furnish, if available, a lifting device to aid in the lifting of any weight over 60 pounds. Before LoadAloneTM there was no such device, and now there is. Now that there is a lifting device available an employee that is injured can sue their employer for not providing the lifting device.

What is the largest body you have loaded without assistance?

Murphy: There is a truth in our business; the bodies keep getting bigger. I have loaded, using LoadAloneTM, by myself several bodies more than over 500 pounds. Haven’t yet had the 800 pounders, probably coming, but it won’t be a problem with LoadAloneTM

As a paraplegic, how do you handle home removals that require bringing a body down the stairs?

Murphy: Less than 10% of all removals are from homes that require bringing the body downstairs. On those few occasions I either get assistance from the police or I bring someone with me.

What is the reaction from other funeral directors to LoadAloneTM?

Murphy: Once a week I get calls from FDs who have purchased LoadAloneTM from us to thank us for a) saving their backs…because in our industry it isn’t a matter of if you will injure yourself, but when…b) for helping increase profits; c) for helping extend their careers and d) “wish I had this years ago before I injured myself”.

What’s next for LoadAloneTM?

Murphy: We are continually looking to make improvements in LoadAloneTM. We are committed to keeping LoadAloneTM affordable. We are less than 10% of the cost of Stryker lift system used by ambulances. Currently most funeral homes can get a 50% tax credit with the purchase of LoadAloneTM.

Bernie Slome
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