Disaster Victim Management: Role of Forensic Pathologists
This chapter explains the role of forensic pathologists in the investigation and analysis of mass disasters. Definitions associated with mass fatality management and an outline of duties and jobs performed are supplied. The importance of this work in the context of large scale deaths is described. Details of the scientific evaluation of the scene and the decedents are reviewed including disaster manual preparation, standard operating procedures, notification, advance team deployment, triage, recovery of bodies, computer assistance, identification, release of bodies, personal property and evidence recovery, delegation of duties, communication, security, and posttraumatic stress.