Management and Identification of Dead Victims

Abstract

Major incidents will always be a part of nature and our way of life. The way to handle such incidents will be a series of activities based on the priority how to best use the common resources in every situation. Therefore, it always will be a first priority to save lives by taking care of wounded people and helping them survive. An early step, however, should be to protect the scene of the incident from relatives and unauthorized investigators. Dead bodies must be preserved and identified as soon as all wounded persons have been evacuated from the scene. This has to be done with dignity and care, taking into account that habits and ceremonies may differ between cultures.

In incidents with many dead bodies, identification has to be done with objective and reproducible methods. The main methods used to identify a dead body are based on dental information, DNA profiling, and fingerprint comparisons. These methods are all well established and have been used in many operations. For all methods, the collection of antemortem information is a fundamental step. No comparisons and no identifications can be made without antemortem information. Postmortem information is collected and analyzed from samples taken from the dead bodies. If postmortem and antemortem information is compatible, the body can be identified.