Death in Large Numbers: The Science, Policy, and Management of Mass Fatality Events

In a mass fatality event, mortuary affairs systems could become overwhelmed, making it crucial that communities have programs in place to effectively carry out the managment of human remains and respond to the needs of family members of the deceased. Death in Large Numbers provides critical information for those responsible for preparedness, response and recovery operations in catastrophic incidents with mass fatalities.

Written by respected leaders and experts who have made mass fatality policy, planning and incident response a priority in their careers, Death in Large Numbers provides the most current information on diagnostics and technologies. It presents epidemiological and outbreak scenarios to highlight strategy considerations and offers context to current thought in national policy.

Section I addresses the core forensic sciences that are integral to mass fatality events, such as disaster victim identification (DVI) through DNA, dentition, bones and handling and burial of CBRNE-contaminated remains and the different tools and technologies used in DVI.

Section II addresses the civil-military, legal and financial aspects and ramifications of mass fatality events and their practical and policy implications. This section tackles the rolf of civil-military integration and Department of Defense's role, capabilities and limitations with regard to its mission and plans in support of the national response framework and local authorities.

Section III addresses operational management and the engagement of personnel from various types of organizations (private and public) to interdependently provide care (medical, psychological) support (critical aspects of state and local governments planning for practical communication advice for responding to and the role of family assistance centers in mass fatality events), to educate and train health professionals in disaster medicine and public health, and finally to mitigate, prepare and build communities.