1. At home, on hospice.
If the person was enrolled in hospice and died at home, you call the hospice agency, not 911. Hospice has someone on call 24 hours a day. A nurse will come to the home, pronounce death, and start the paperwork. In most states, this is the cleanest, least stressful version of the first call.
After the hospice nurse leaves, you’ll need to call a funeral home so they can come pick up the body. You don’t have to have one picked out in advance. The hospice nurse can wait with you while you figure it out, or you can ask them for a recommendation.
2. At home, and it was unexpected.
If the death was unexpected — a heart attack, an accident, an overdose, or anything sudden — you call 911. Paramedics will come. They’ll assess whether resuscitation is possible. If it isn’t, they’ll call the police or a coroner.
In every U.S. state, an unexpected death at home is automatically reviewed by a coroner or medical examiner. They decide whether an autopsy is needed. Until they release the body, you can’t move the person — not even to a funeral home you choose. This can take a few hours or, rarely, a few days.
Once the coroner releases the body, you (or the funeral home you choose) can arrange pickup.
3. In a hospital, nursing home, or hospice facility.
If the person dies in any kind of facility — a hospital, a nursing home, an assisted living community, an inpatient hospice house — the staff handles the first call. A doctor or nurse will pronounce the death. Someone from the facility will walk you through the immediate steps.
They’ll ask which funeral home to call. You don’t need to know right away. Most facilities can hold the body for at least 24 hours while you decide. Ask how long they can hold the person, and take that time if you need it.
4. Away from home, or in public.
If someone dies in public — a car accident, a fall, a heart attack at work, on vacation — 911 is always the first call. From there, the body is taken to the local medical examiner’s office in the jurisdiction where the death occurred.
If the death happened in a different state or country, a funeral home in that jurisdiction will typically help coordinate transport back home. This can take several days and involves paperwork from both the local authority and the destination.
If the death was abroad, also contact the nearest U.S. consulate or embassy. They issue a Consular Report of Death Abroad, which is the equivalent of a U.S. death certificate for overseas deaths.
The second call: the funeral home.
In every scenario above, the second call is to a funeral home. You’re not committing to buy their services by calling. You’re asking them to come pick up the body, hold it, and schedule the full arrangement meeting for a later day.
If you don’t have one chosen, this is one area where a local, family-owned funeral home is usually the kinder experience than a national chain. Ask a neighbor, your doctor’s office, or a nearby faith community for a name.
What not to do in the first hour.
- Don’t move the body until it’s been pronounced and, in unexpected-death cases, released by the coroner.
- Don’t call the bank. Not yet. Nothing financial needs to happen today.
- Don’t post on social media. Call the inner circle by phone first.
- Don’t sign anything a funeral home hands you before you’ve seen their General Price List in writing. That’s a federal right.
When you’re ready for what comes after the first call, the full walkthrough is here.