Civil Emergencies - Disaster victim identification (UK DVI Guidance)
https://www.app.college.police.uk/app-content/civil-emergencies/disaster-victim-identification/
Interpol – DVI Guide
https://www.interpol.int/INTERPOL-expertise/Forensics/DVI-Pages/DVI-guide
Training and exercising is essential to preparedness and, as such, is part of the normal business of responder organisations.
Mass fatalities emergencies, particularly a pandemic, will require a very wide range of responses across several agencies, encompassing many work streams and contributors. Almost all training and exercising could therefore be said to contribute to resilience in this area. However it is recommended that particular attention is given to the following areas when training and exercising to promote resilience in mass fatalities aspects of these emergencies:
In the most severe extensive mass fatalities emergencies, including the reasonable worst case planning assumptions for an influenza pandemic, it may be unrealistic to expect normal compliance with some aspects of legislation such as:
In contrast with emergencies such as a pandemic, where the cause of death would in most cases be known, some emergencies resulting in mass fatalities require careful investigation to establish the circumstances of the deaths. In emergencies where criminality, hostility or negligence is suspected, legal requirements will greatly affect the way in which fatalities are managed. This section of the guidance sets out the response to mass fatalities emergencies of this sort, from the time when bodies are removed from the incident scene to when they are cremated or buried.
This section is concerned with deaths in which criminal and forensic investigations play little or no part. The most extreme emergency of this type would probably be a pandemic such as the influenza pandemic for which Category 1 responders have been asked to prepare. Other emergencies requiring only limited post mortem forensic work would be those where sufficient evidence had already been collected or where the investigation focused on non-human aspects of the incident, e.g. natural disaster.
Many people work to make our society a safe place to live and do so, directly and indirectly, in a wide variety of roles. We depend on those who clean and maintain our environment, design safer vehicles, buildings and equipment, as well as those who protect us from hostility and respond to emergencies. Almost all of us have a part to play. Unfortunately we cannot always be successful in preventing harm or, in extreme cases, the premature loss of life.
The way in which we manage fatalities has a direct effect on the living. Although we cannot always prevent the premature loss of life, our actions can help to avoid additional suffering and reduce the likelihood of others being harmed in the future. This can be done by:
Responders (Source: Preparing Scotland, 2016)
Preparing Scotland is underpinned by the principal legislation involved, the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (“the Act”) and the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (Contingency Planning) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (“the Regulations”).
This legislation outlines the key organisations responsible for ensuring the effective management of emergencies in Scotland. These are referred to in the legislation as follows:
This section makes recommendations, based on existing good practice, for developing community resilience. It is structured around a four-step process:
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