Potential problems arising during international disaster victim identification (DVI) exercises

Excerpt

Disaster victim identification (DVI) refers to the formal and organised process of identifying multiple bodies after a mass fatality. The number of dead required before DVI processes are initiated varies among jurisdictions, for example it may occur with only four bodies after a vehicle crash, or with many thousands after a tsunami. International DVI procedures are coordinated through Interpol with local authorities generally having control over the site(s) of the disaster, but sometimes with assistance from outside organizations. Guidelines and internationally accepted forms are provided by Interpol for collating both antemortem and post-mortem data. DVI exercises may involve recent natural disasters such as earthquakes, terrorist actions such as suicide bombings, human trafficking accidents, or events that have happened some time ago, as in exhumations of mass graves from previous armed conflict [1]. …