My aunt's one concern was that she was buried barefooted. She didn't want to begin an eternity wearing uncomfortable shoes.

Reminds me of:

- Arthur Dent

There have been numerous mechanisms of escape hatches, bells and other communication devices through the ages to protect against accidental live interrment. Like this.

To my knowledge, there is no record of one ever being used for it's intended purpose.

There is an Ambrose Bierce (if I remember correctly) short story about the hero of the story waking up and realizing that he has been buried alive. He panics and later it turns out that he was just on a ship, sleeping in a very tight place, and the ship carried top-soil or something similar, so he was in the dark, around him the sides of wooden boxes, he could smell the smell of fresh earth, and as he just woke up he did not remember how he got there.

Can someone live through being embalmed?

I didn't think so. But, I guess not everyone everywhere is embalmed when they die.

Definitely not. The process includes flushing all the blood out by forcing formaldehyde through the circulatory system. If you can live through that, uh.. you win a gold star.