A first call sheet is the form you fill in while a family or facility is on the phone, so the removal team and the arranging director start from the same facts. This free template has every field in call order, a read-back step and a handoff section. Download it as a spreadsheet or a printable sheet. No email address is required.
What the sheet covers
Each field has a box to tick once it has been read back or checked, so an unconfirmed detail is visible to the next person.
The same six groups as the intake checklist, laid out as fields to fill in.
A shortened preview of the printed sheet. Each number matches a note on what the block is for and what goes wrong when it is skipped.
[Funeral home name]
First call sheet
Taken by ______
Call and caller
Decedent
Circumstances
If there is a hold, do not dispatch until release is confirmed. Record who confirmed it.
Care and authorization
Removal
Next step and handoff
Who called, from what number, and whether they can make decisions. The callback number comes first because a dropped call with no number is the one gap nobody can fix later. A hospice nurse or facility clerk is often the caller but not the person with authority, so the sheet asks for both.
The legal name as it will appear on the death certificate, plus the name the family uses. Date and place of death and the current location, down to the room or unit, tell the removal team where to go and who to ask for.
Expected or sudden, who pronounced and when, the attending physician and hospice. The medical examiner or coroner line is the stop sign: if there is a hold, nobody moves until release is confirmed and the sheet says who confirmed it.
Who gave permission to remove, and whether embalming was authorized, declined or not discussed. Writing "not discussed" is better than leaving it blank, because a blank gets read as yes by someone tired at 4 a.m.
What the team needs before it leaves: stairs, gates, elevators, parking, pets, who will be there, and what to bring back. The time promised to the family goes here so the team knows what was said.
The arrangement conference, what the family should bring, who calls next and by when. The handoff box records what was promised and what is still unconfirmed, and the director initials it so the sheet has an owner.
If the call drops, the number is the one thing you cannot recover. Read it back one digit at a time.
Ask in the order the sheet is laid out. Leave a field blank rather than guessing, and tick it only once it has been confirmed.
The callback number, the name and spelling, the address with any room number, and who will call next and by when.
Set the arrangement conference, tell the family what to bring, and record who will call them and when.
Send the sheet with what you promised and what is unconfirmed, then wait for the director to acknowledge it.
A fictional call, filled in on the sheet as it happened. Times are when each block was completed.
2:04 a.m.
Hospice nurse calls
The on-call director answers. The caller is a hospice nurse at a private home. The callback number is read back digit by digit and ticked. The nurse says the patient died at 1:40 a.m. and she pronounced at 1:52.
2:07 a.m.
Authority and circumstances
Expected death, on hospice, attending physician named. No medical examiner involvement; the nurse confirms she has notified the physician. The daughter, at the bedside, comes to the phone and gives permission to remove. Her name and relationship go on the sheet. Embalming: "not discussed."
2:11 a.m.
Removal details
Second-floor bedroom, narrow stairs, a dog that will be shut in a back room, park in the driveway. The daughter asks that his wedding ring stay on; that goes in personal effects. The director promises arrival by 3:15 a.m.
2:14 a.m.
Read-back and next step
Number, name and spelling, address, and the next call: the arranging director will phone the daughter at 9 a.m. to set a time to meet, and she should have his clothing and any veteran discharge papers ready.
2:20 a.m.
Team assigned, sheet filed
Two staff dispatched with the removal block. The handoff box notes the ring and that the daughter has not been asked about embalming. The arranging director initials the handoff at 7:45 a.m.
One sheet passes through several hands before the arrangement conference. Each person adds to it and none of them starts a new one.
Fills the call, caller, decedent, circumstances and removal blocks while the caller is on the line, ticks each field once it is read back, and leaves blanks rather than guesses.
Example Front desk by day, the on-call director or answering service after hours.
Reviews the sheet, confirms anything marked unconfirmed, calls the facility back if the medical examiner line is unclear, and initials the handoff.
Example Calls the hospice back to confirm the room number before the team leaves.
Works from the removal block, records the time they arrived and left, and notes anything they learned at the house that the arranging director should know.
Example Adds that the son, not the daughter, will meet with the director.
Starts the arrangement conference from the sheet, corrects spellings against documents the family brings, and files the sheet with the case.
Example Fixes the middle name from the driver’s license the family brings in.
Small gaps on the sheet turn into a wasted trip, a wrong name on a document or a removal that should have waited.
Two digits transposed and there is no way back to the family. Read it back one digit at a time, every call.
A neighbor, a nurse or a cousin can report a death without having authority to arrange. Ask who will be making decisions and record that person separately.
An unreported sudden death or an unconfirmed hold can mean a removal that should not have happened. Ask every time, and record who confirmed release.
A hospital or nursing facility address with no unit or room sends the team to the front desk at 3 a.m. to wait.
If permission was not asked for and given, write "not discussed." The director raises it with the family, with the GPL in hand.
A first call written on a pad in the on-call director’s truck is not part of the case. File it with the case record the same day.
Who can authorize removal and arrangements, which deaths must be reported to the medical examiner or coroner, and what paperwork has to travel with the body are set by state law and local practice. They differ from state to state. Check with your state funeral board and your county medical examiner, then add your local answers to the notes column of the spreadsheet version so whoever takes the call has them in front of them.
If a caller asks about price, answer. The FTC Funeral Rule requires funeral homes to give price information over the phone. Read from your General Price List so the quote matches what the family will be handed later.
Free to use and adapt. No email address is required.
The printable sheet (Markdown) is laid out as a one-call form with tick boxes and a handoff section. Paste it into your word processor, add your firm’s name and keep a stack at every phone.
The spreadsheet version (CSV) lists the same fields with a column for the entry, a column to mark it confirmed and a note on each. Use it to set up a shared form or to give an answering service your field order.
Keep completed sheets with the case record, not in a shared folder. For the short list of what to capture, use the first call intake checklist. For what to say, use the first call script.
Staff work through the same first call sheet on screen while the caller is on the line, and it opens the case.
With AI phone answering switched on, the assistant pages your on-call director, and the call arrives as a draft sheet with its recording and transcript. Staff confirm it before it becomes a case.
What the sheet captures flows into arrangements, documents and billing without being typed again.
First call intake softwareOne first call sheet, however the call arrives.Read more 
First call intake checklistThe printable checklist of what to capture.Read more 
Funeral home first call scriptWhat to say on the call, and how to read the details back.Read more 
First call intake checklist, explainedWhat to confirm before you hang up.Read more A first call sheet is the form the person answering a first call fills in while the caller is on the line: who is calling, who has died, where they are now, what has been authorized, what the removal team needs and what happens next. It becomes the start of the case record.
A first call form should include the caller and callback number, the decedent’s legal name, date, time and place of death, current location, whether a physician, hospice or medical examiner is involved, authorization to remove, removal access details, and the agreed next step. This template has all of them plus a handoff section.
The checklist is a short list of what to capture; this is the sheet you write the answers on. They use the same groups, and the first call script covers what to say in what order.
Usually the legal next of kin or another person your state recognizes as having the right to control disposition, and the order of priority is set by state law. Record the name and relationship of whoever gives permission, and check your state’s rules for who qualifies.
Yes, if the caller asks. The FTC Funeral Rule requires funeral homes to answer price questions by phone. Read prices from your General Price List so the phone quote matches the printed list.
Yes. Give the service the same fields so every sheet arrives in the same order, and record on the sheet how the call arrived. Confirm the callback number and spelling before anyone acts on a sheet someone else took.
Bring your blank sheet. In 20 minutes we take a sample first call through the sheet, open the case, and show where each detail lands.
