Practical issues involved in setting up temporary mortuaries after mass disasters

Abstract

Events involving terrorist bombings in Bali, Indonesia in 2002 and the earthquake with resultant Tsunami in Southern Asia in late 2004 have necessitated international collaborative efforts in massive disaster victim identification exercises. A critical issue involves speedy and accurate identification of the dead with repatriation to their country of origin. An essential requirement for this process is the establishment of effective and functinal mortuaries to enable systematic processing of the victims with appropriate documentation and quality-control processes to ensure that identifications are correct and that processes are capable of audit. The following article outlines steps that need to be taken to set up temporatory mortuaries under such circumstances, possible problems that may be encountered, and suggested solutions.