The role of forensic anthropology in Disaster Victim Identification (DVI)

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2010.07.038

Forensic Science International

Volume 205, Issues 1–3, 25 February 2011, Pages 29-35

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2010.07.038 Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper briefly describes Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) and reviews the history of the use of forensic anthropology in the identification process. The potential contributions made by forensic anthropology are illustrated through the presentation of a case study. In February 2009 the state of Victoria in south-eastern Australia experienced the most devastating bushfires in its history, resulting in catastrophic loss of life and public and private property. Within 48 h of the disaster, forensic teams including pathologists, odontologists and anthropologists assembled at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine in Melbourne to begin the task of identifying the deceased. This paper reviews the part played by forensic anthropologists in the identification process and outlines the important contribution anthropologists can make to DVI, especially at the scene, in the mortuary and in the reconciliation process. The anthropologist's experience with differentially preserved human remains meant they played an important role identifying and recovering heavily fragmentary human skeletal remains, differentiating human from non-human remains, establishing basic biological information such as the sex and age of the individuals and confirming or denying the possibility of re-associating body parts for release to families.

Introduction

The extreme weather conditions in Victoria, Australia leading up to and on the 7th February 2009 resulted in the deaths of 173 people. A range of forensic medical and science experts were required to manage the search, location and analysis of the human remains in an attempt to positively identify individuals. The aim of this paper is to examine the role of forensic anthropology in a DVI process and discuss the contributions this discipline made to the February 2009 Bushfire investigations. In highlighting the contributions and limitations made by forensic anthropology to DVI the paper will serve to broaden the educational awareness about forensic anthropology for police, coroners, lawyers, emergency workers and others involved in the DVI process.

Section snippets

What is DVI?

Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) refers to the procedures used to positively identify deceased victims of a multiple casualty event. The DVI procedures consist of five phases: Phase 1: the scene; Phase 2: the mortuary; Phase 3: ante-mortem data collection; Phase 4: reconciliation and Phase 5: debrief. These phases cover the time directly following the disaster and up to the identification of the deceased. See [1] for a review of each of the five DVI phases.

History of forensic anthropology in DVI

Forensic anthropology is defined as the field of study concerned with the examination of material believed to be human to answer medico-legal questions including those related to identification. While there has been much written on the role of the forensic pathologist and odontologist in Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) [2], Stewart's edited volume Personal Identification in Mass Disasters is the first account of the role of a forensic anthropologist in the management of multiple deceased

The role of a forensic anthropologist in a DVI

Whether a result of human or natural circumstances, a disaster is likely to involve a range of extreme forces such as heat (burning), impact (G-force, wave), crushing (structure collapse), explosion, freefall (impact) and/or environmental influences (temperature; humidity; water—warm, cold, salt, fresh; carnivore/rodent activity) that all potentially impact on the condition of the body. Consequently, disasters resulting in mass fatalities commonly present a range of “differentially preserved

Phase 1: the scene

Initial reports of numbers of individuals killed during the 7th February 2009 Victorian bushfires (referred to as the Black Saturday fires) were conflicting with figures ranging from 14 to 3000 deaths, more than 3000 properties lost, 7000 people displaced and several towns completely destroyed (Trevor Blake, DVI CBR Police Unit, Personal Communication 2009). In less than 48 h following the most devastating fires in Australia's history multidisciplinary teams including police, pathologists,

Conclusion

Despite increased acknowledgement of the role forensic anthropologists can play in DVI, there remains room for improvement. For example, lessons learnt from forensic anthropologists involved in large scale disasters such as the Boxing Day 2005 tsunami and the 2009 Victorian bushfires include the need for anthropology protocols in the INTERPOL forms and entry of physical anthropology data in the DVI Sys^®, Plassdata (a database which stores and compares data to assist with the identification

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for comments provided by Luis Fondebrider (EAAF) and two anonymous reviewers.

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^☆: “Forensic medical response to the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Disaster”, Guest-edited by Olaf H. Drummer and Stephen M. Cordner.

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The role of forensic anthropology in Disaster Victim Identification (DVI)☆

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

What is DVI?

History of forensic anthropology in DVI

The role of a forensic anthropologist in a DVI

Phase 1: the scene

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Forensic Sciences International

Disaster Victim Identification: a review

Minerva Medicolegale

Mass disasters

The role of forensic anthropology in mass fatality incidents management

Forensic Science Policy and Management: An International Journal

The role of forensic anthropology in the recovery and analysis of Branch Davidian Compound victims: recovery procedures and characteristics of the victims

Journal of Forensic Science

Federal resources in mass disaster response

Cultural Resource Management

The role of a forensic anthropologist in mass disaster resolution

Aviation Space Environment Medicine

DVI forensic anthropology procedures (Appendix K)

Australian DVI Standards Manual

Domestic homicide investigation in the United Kingdom

Disaster anthropology

Science and human rights—truth, justice, reparation and reconciliation: a long way in third world countries

Forensic anthropology and human rights: The Argentine experience

Forensic Anthropology: Contemporary Theory and Practice.

Disaster victim identification: new applications for postmortem computed tomography

Journal of Forensic Science

Mass disasters: comments and discussion regarding the Hinton Train Collision of 1986

Disaster victim recovery and identification: forensic anthropology in the aftermath of September 11th

Anthropologist directed triage: three distinct mass fatality events involving fragmentation of human remains

The World Trade Center–September 11, 2001

The role of the anthropologist in Disaster Victim Identification: the Bali incidents 2002 and 2004

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Proceedings of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences