Disaster Victim Identification Operations Research Articles

Understanding the challenges of disaster victim identification: perspectives of Australian forensic practitioners.

Disaster victim identification (DVI) is an important process in the aftermath of disasters to provide answers for the families and communities of victims. Australian forensic practitioners contribute to such processes internationally under difficult post-disaster circumstances. The aim of the study was to better understand the challenges experienced by forensic practitioners in international DVI operations. Participants (N = 20) included DNA analysts, fingerprint examiners, forensic odontologists, forensic pathologists, and mortuary technicians who had experience in DVI operations. Participants were interviewed about their experiences and perceptions of the challenges of DVI. The findings provide valuable insights into the types of DVI operations in which Australian forensic practitioners have been involved internationally. Thematic analysis of interview data resulted in five main themes: the post-disaster work environment; DVI management and processes; political and financial influences; teamwork in intercultural and interdisciplinary contexts; and confronting the emotional realities of DVI work. The analysis highlights the interrelated challenges associated with DVI operations in international contexts. Practitioners also provided suggestions for improvement, which generally aligned with the themes and reflected an ethos of learning and continuous improvement in DVI. Further research on education and training and capacity-development initiatives is warranted.

Disaster victim identification – the interpol sub-working group on pathology and anthropology

Disaster victim identification (DVI) efforts are invariably challenging and complex, and place tremendous strain on communities and resources. To support DVI operations around the world, the International Criminal Police Organization INTERPOL publishes the INTERPOL DVI Guide, maintains an Incident Response Unit, and facilitates the DVI Working Group and four DVI sub-working groups. The latter comprise of specialists in odontology, ridgeology, molecular biology, and pathology/anthropology respectively.

Forensic odontology identification response to terrorist attacks in Paris November 2015

The terrorist attacks of November 2015 led to the immediate death of 129 victims admitted to the Legal and Forensic Medicine Institute of Paris, including 41 unidentified. During the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) operations, 22 bodies were examined by the postmortem (PM) dental team with the aim of establishing PM odontograms. At the same time, the dental expert in the antemortem (AM) unit collected a large number of dental files, progressively filtered as the list of missing persons became reduced. Feedback from these events has highlighted the difficulties of implementing the DVI chain principles in a legal framework, published the day before the attacks, and also the technical complexity of collecting dental data on a week end of terror. The return on experience after this event has represented a paradigm shift on previous methods of DVI in Paris and even more in France. Indeed, the victim identification procedure was redesigned, integrating new technical means such as a CT scan directly on spot, allowing the extraction of maxillofacial data as soon as possible in order to support the PM dental examination team. Moreover, the National Dental Council proceeded to the overall remodeling of the dental identification unit, which is composed of trained members, from local, regional and national aspects. These forensic experts are dedicated, at the request of the legal authorities, to DVI operations and deployed throughout the country capable of managing AM and PM data. This unit aims also to share experiences and awareness-raising among health professionals and investigators in order to optimize a better submission of AM elements and also to enhance the major interest of odontology as a primary identifier in disaster.

Medico-legal encounters of 2015 Nepal earthquake – Path traversed and the road ahead

The Gorkha Earthquake hit the region on 25th of April 2015, at 12:58, with the epicentre approximately 80 km N-NW of Kathmandu, recording 7.8 Mw on the Richter Scale. The disaster left almost 9000 individuals dead. The search and recovery as well as the subsequent Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) operations left much to be desired. The entire DVI operations consisted of examination of 365 bodies and collection of 15 blood/hair samples and 60 bone/tooth samples. This resulted in the scientific identification of eight individuals and visual recognition of 357. The scientific basis of identification of more than 8000 individuals, remains a question.The Disaster Response was hampered by miscommunication, incoordination and mismanagement on the part of all stakeholders and could have led to misidentification as well as missed identification. This demonstrates the importance of systematic management of dead bodies in mass casualty events to ensure dignity and respect of the deceased as well as family members. The helplessness felt by technical experts was compounded by the general lack of political will and the pressure on the law enforcement for quick disposal, irrespective of the available standards and protocols. Therefore, DVI operations can only be assumed to be a disaster in the making, when faced with lack of political will, lack of strict adherence to international standards as well as lack of determination from all stakeholders. Such a response from authorities is usually driven by panic following mass fatalities especially in disasters of great magnitude, like this one.The article discusses the challenges faced by the technical experts in the field and describes the advancements as well as recommendations for further improving the DVI operations in a resource-stricken country.

Forensic dentistry and disaster victim identification (DVI) in Indonesia

ABSTRACT The forensic dentist plays an important role in the disaster victim identification (DVI) operations. The first aim of this study was to explore the opinions of Indonesian dentists on the importance of dental records and the respective awareness of Forensic Dentistry. The second aim was to investigate the basic profile of the Indonesian dentists and their experiences working in the DVI operations. Two web-based surveys (S1 and S2) were sent to 360 Indonesian dentists and eight Indonesia DVI team members, respectively. Results for S1 showed that most dentists (305 out of 341) are aware of the field and the importance of dental records in human identification; however, only 26% of dentists always compile a complete dental chart of the patient. DVI team members (6 out of 8) have an academic background in the field and only the minority experienced difficulties in deployments. Indonesia is susceptible to natural disasters and dentists proved to be important in DVI. Although the Ministry of Health of Indonesia has provided guidelines, the recording of dental data is not up to standard. A regular and systematic monitoring by the dental councils to every dental clinic would certify if dentists are compiling and keeping accurate dental records.

DNA identification of human remains in Disaster Victim Identification (DVI): An efficient sampling method for muscle, bone, bone marrow and teeth

In disaster victim identification (DVI), DNA profiling is considered to be one of the most reliable and efficient means to identify bodies or separated body parts. This requires a post mortem DNA sample, and an ante mortem DNA sample of the presumed victim or their biological relative(s). Usually the collection of an adequate ante mortem sample is technically simple, but the acquisition of a good quality post mortem sample under unfavourable DVI circumstances is complicated due to the variable degree of preservation of the human remains and the high risk of DNA (cross) contamination. This paper provides the community with an efficient method to collect post-mortem DNA samples from muscle, bone, bone marrow and teeth, with a minimal risk of contamination. Our method has been applied in a recent, challenging DVI operation (i.e. the identification of the 298 victims of the MH17 airplane crash in 2014). 98,2% of the collected PM samples provided the DVI team with highly informative DNA genotyping results without the risk of contamination and consequent mistyping the victim’s DNA. Moreover, the method is easy, cheap and quick. This paper provides the DVI community with a step-wise instructions with recommendations for the type of tissue to be sampled and the site of excision (preferably the upper leg). Although initially designed for DVI purposes, the method is also suited for the identification of individual victims.

EFFECT OF DIFFERENT HUMAN MUSCLE TISSUE PRESERVATIVES ON QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF DNA: MEDICO LEGAL ASPECT

Background: Disaster victim identification (DVI) is a part of a collective response to mass disasters with the intention of identifying victims and body parts. Muscle tissue is sampled during DVI operations to identify victims by DNA analysis. Aim: To provide an effective field based method for preservation of DNA in human muscle tissues. Methods: A cross sectional comparative study was carried out on normal healthy human muscle tissues which were collected from patients admitted to Suez Canal University Hospital for surgical amputation of a part of limb. Muscle tissue was stored for 4 weeks in a number of preservatives at room temperature (15- 20°C). This process was repeated at 37°C to simulate the conditions expected during DVI operations in warm conditions. Samples were also stored at -20oC which represents the optimum storage condition used in many countries. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of DNA extracted from samples was done for each preservative during the 4 weeks. The study was conducted in the clinical pathology department in faculty of medicine-Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt. Results: All preservatives could retain DNA up to the 4 weeks. Ethanol 70% (EtOH) gave the highest DNA concentration in both conditions (p value <0.001), followed by Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in room temperature and Sodium Chloride (NaCl) in 37 oC. All used preservatives did not show degradation in room temperature, while NaCl and Ethanol 70% showed degradation in DNA extracted in day 28 in 37 oC condition ( p value <0.001). Conclusion: DMSO is a successful method of preservation of DNA in human muscle tissue up to 4 weeks in both room temperature and 37 oC. While NaCl and Ethanol 70% are successful methods of preservation of DNA in muscle tissue up to 2 weeks only in 37 oC and up to 4 weeks in room temperature (15-20oC).

The use of radiology in the Japanese tsunami DVI process

Abstract On the 11th of March, 2011, the world's 4th largest earthquake (magnitude of 9.0) hit Tohoku, located in the northeast coastal area of Japan. The quake generated a tsunami that crashed ashore. The first tsunami of 15 m reached the shoreline 40 min after the quake. Approximately 16,000 people were lost, and more than 2000 remain missing. The National Police Agency took command of disaster victim identification (DVI). The Japanese Society of Legal Medicine sent member forensic pathologists and odontologists to more than 30 temporary mortuaries. No radiological technique other than dental X-ray was used for DVI. More than 90% of the victims were estimated to have died as a result of drowning from the tsunami. Approximately 90% of the victims were visually identified. Others were identified by dental records, fingerprints, or DNA. There were cases of misidentification resulting from visual identification. No CT scanning was undertaken throughout the DVI operation. The reasons that CT imaging was not used included the following: 1) there were too many bodies to scan, thus, it would have been too time/cost-consuming, 2) DVI was undertaken at many sites over a large area, 3) there was limited local experience with imaging techniques for DVI, and 4) most bodies were not injured or decomposed so were able to be visually identified. This was assisted by the cool winter weather at the time of the disaster. Four years after the tsunami, 15,736/15,892 (99%) bodies have been identified, and 2573 people are still missing.

An Evaluation of the Thai Tsunami Victim Identification DNA Operation

ABSTRACTThe Thai Tsunami Victim Identification operation was the largest disaster victim identification operation in history, involving 3,679 unidentified victims from 41 countries, and police and forensic scientists from over 30 countries. This paper evaluates the DNA response to the 26 December 2004 South-East Asia Tsunami, measuring its impact at different stages of the operation. Only 15 identifications were established using DNA during the first 5 months, compared to 307 by fingerprints, 1,266 by dental, and 11 by physical analysis. Critical obstacles, such as available ante-mortem and post-mortem DNA profiles, data management challenges, and automated DNA matching issues were impeding the DNA response. Recognizing and resolving the key issues hindering DNA identification resulted in increased DNA identifications during the middle and late stages of the operation.Consideration of victim demographics was crucial to understanding the impact of different identification methods during the operation. DNA ...

The Role of Military Dental Capabilities in Mass Fatality Situations

Recent experience with the New Zealand Defence Force in supporting the national disaster victim identification operation following destructive earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand, highlights the important role military forensic odontology capabilities can provide in supporting a national disaster response. Military dental personnel are well-trained, practiced, and prepared to support short-notice contingencies and can provide important immediate response augmentation to Disaster Victim Identification teams following a multiple-fatality event. The role of military forensic odontology capabilities in multiple-fatality incidents is reviewed.

Integrating forensic anthropology into disaster victim identification

This paper will provide mass fatality emergency planners, police, medical examiners, coroners and other Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) personnel ways to integrate forensic anthropologists into DVI operations and demonstrate how anthropological contributions have improved DVI projects. In mass disaster situations, anthropologists have traditionally been limited to developing biological profiles from skeletal remains. Over the past decade, however, anthropologists' involvement in DVI has extended well beyond this traditional role as they have taken on increasingly diverse tasks and responsibilities. Anthropological involvement in DVI operations is often dictated by an incident's specific characteristics, particularly events involving extensive fragmentation, commingling, or other forms of compromised remains. This paper will provide examples from recent DVI incidents to illustrate the operational utility of anthropologists in the DVI context. The points where it is most beneficial to integrate anthropologists into the DVI process include: (1) during recovery at the disaster scene; (2) at the triage station as remains are brought into the mortuary; and (3) in conducting the reconciliation process. Particular attention will be paid to quality control and quality assurance measures anthropologists have developed and implemented for DVI projects. Overall, this paper will explain how anthropological expertise can be used to increase accuracy in DVI while reducing the project's cost and duration.