Disaster Victim Identification: Traditional Approaches and Changing Practices

Abstract

A vital component of disaster management is the identification of the deceased. This chapter discusses the processes created by the International Criminal Policing Organization (INTERPOL) to undertake and standardize the disaster victim identification (DVI) process. Following a brief description of the basics of personal identification which involves the comparison of information about the individual when they were alive (ante-mortem data) with information obtained during the post-mortem examination of the deceased person (post-mortem data), a summary of each of the five phases of DVI as outlined in the INTERPOL DVI Guide is provided. The impact of different types and scales of disasters on identification is then discussed. The next part of the chapter examines some of the changes in practice that have occurred recently. Particular attention is given to technological advances that have improved processes at the scene (phase 1); practice in the mortuary (phase 2) including the implementation of medical imaging, and advances in dental, DNA and fingerprint identifications; the collection of ante-mortem data (phase 3), and the reconciliation of data (Phase 4). While DVI has focused on so-called primary methods of identification, the potential value of so-called secondary identification methods is discussed. The preservation of human remains following a disaster will be dependent on the type of disaster. However, there are numerous examples of disasters which have resulted in severely fragmented, compromised and/or commingled human remains. For this reason, the challenges associated with the recovery and management of fragmented human remains is considered. The final part of the chapter discusses the importance of debriefing (phase 5) following a disaster and acknowledges the potential mental and physical impact of the work on those involved in DVI operations.KeywordsDisaster victim identification (DVI)INTERPOLMethodologyPreservationTechnologyManagementInvestigation