Forensic Analysis and Identification Processes in Mass Disasters: Explosion of Gun Powder in the Fireworks Factory

A mass disaster is a situation that involves criticality between the number of victims and resources, in terms of both men and means, present on the site of an event that is mostly unexpected and sudden. In the multidisciplinary teams that intervene, the role of forensic pathologists, who are responsible for the direction and coordination of post-mortem operations, is central, and must remain so. The authors report the case of an explosion of a pyrotechnic artifice factory, as a result of which numerous victims and injuries are recorded. So, the team completed the autopsies and created a protocol to obtain biological samples (bones, blood, teeth, muscles), while the forensic pathologists contacted the families of the alleged victims and each provided a blood sample that was collected for the DNA. The geneticist, using the method of gene extraction and amplification, obtained the DNA from each bone, tooth, and muscle of blood taken from the victims and then compared it with that extracted from the blood samples of the relatives; the electropherograms showed at least one allele for each genetic marker of the “Combined DNA Index System” in common between the victims and the families, thus allowing to establish the identity of all the subjects involved in the event. Having established the identity of all workers, it was possible to determine their whereabouts in the environment at the time of the location of fires and explosions. The results of the various forensic analyzes (autopsies, genetic investigations and even traumatological investigations) have allowed us to validate a scientific method useful in all mass disasters even when any type of anthropological or forensic dental research is difficult.

Insuring Well-being: Psychological Adaptation to Disasters

We examine the impact of life and health insurance spending on subjective well-being. Taking advantage of insurance spending and subjective well-being data on more than 700,000 individuals in Japan, we examine whether insurance spending can buffer declines in subjective well-being due to exposure to mass disaster. We find that insurance spending can buffer drops in subjective well-being by approximately 3–6% among those who experienced the mass disaster of the great East Japan earthquake. Subjective health increases the most, followed by life satisfaction and happiness. On the other hand, insurance spending decreases the subjective well-being of those who did not experience the earthquake by approximately 3–7%. We conclude by monetizing the subjective well-being loss and calculating the extent to which insurance spending can compensate for it. The monetary value of subjective well-being buffered through insurance spending is approximately 33,128 USD for happiness, 33,287 USD for life satisfaction, and 19,597 USD for subjective health for a person in one year. Therefore, we confirm that life/health insurance serves as an ideal option for disaster adaptation. Our findings indicate the importance of considering subjective well-being, which is often neglected when assessing disaster losses.

A preventív és proaktív fogászati azonosítás bevezetése és jelentősége tömegkatasztrófa áldozat azonosításkor

Összefoglaló. A modern kriminalisztika interdiszciplináris területe a tömegkatasztrófa áldozat azonosítás. A katasztrófát általában egy előre nem látható esemény okozza, amelyben mind az emberi, mind pedig az anyagi kár jelentős. Napjainkban az áldozatazonosítás folyamata reaktív módon történik, tehát az azonosításhoz szükséges dokumentáció az esemény bekövetkezése után kerül összegyűjtésre. A fogászati ante-mortem (AM) adatokat előre, hatóságilag egy központi adatbázisban, preventív jelleggel, kötelező módon nem tárolják. A preventív AM adatbázis létrehozása felgyorsíthatja és költséghatékonnyá teheti az áldozatazonosítást, mert a jelenlegi reaktív módszer helyett preventív módon, proaktív jelleggel kerülne sor az azonosításra. Summary. Mass disaster identification is an interdisciplinary field of modern forensic science. A disaster is usually caused by an unforeseen event in which both human and material damage is significant. Nowadays, the victim identification process is reactive, i.e., the authorities react to the event that has occurred and collect the necessary documentation for identification after the event has taken place. Primary identifiers include fingerprints, DNA and dental records. In mass casualty incidents, teeth are usually the most common means of identifying victims. However, dental ante-mortem (AM) documentation is not stored in advance in a central database as a preventive measure. The creation of a preventive AM database could speed up and make victim identification cost-effective, because it would be done in a preventive and proactive way instead of the current reactive method. The quality of the AM documentation would be guaranteed to be good and accurate, so that post-mortem (PM) data collected in the field can be easily and efficiently compared by a smart pattern recognition software, increasing the likelihood of successful identification. The introduction of digital health involves not only security and technology, but also cultural change. In Hungary, from 2020 onwards, the private sector will be obliged to provide data to the National eHealth Infrastructure (Elektronikus Egészségügyi Szolgáltatási Tér, EESZT), so digital health information will be stored in a centralized system, which can improve the quality of ante-mortem documentation. When identifying victims, it is important to have biometric identifiers that are resistant to environmental influences, have individual characteristics, are easy to collect and compare with reference information, and can be stored and used in a cost-effective way. The palatal ridge has been shown to meet the above properties. The development of digital dentistry and the involvement of the dental sector in data collection will facilitate the work of forensic dental experts, enabling the state to ensure effective identification and subsequent dignified farewells and burials for its citizens in the event of a mass disaster. According to the principle of operation of the preventive AM-PM database, the two- and three-dimensional X-ray and other imaging data, findings, anamnesis documentation and final reports collected during the lifetime of a citizen are stored in a central database. Changes during screening examinations can be traced. One of the most valuable is dental documentation. All information linked to the individual is stored with AM ID, which is also linked to passport and ID card information. In the event of an accident, post-mortem data is also stored in the AM-PM database, which is saved with a PM ID. With the help of a smart algorithm, the AM-PM ID match helps to identify the victim. In the case of missing persons, it is important that the missing person’s medical AM documentation, if not already stored, is immediately included, since when identifying an unknown body, it is probably best to start the search among the missing persons first.

Immediacy and Authority

As DNA technology becomes more refined and more widely accessible, expectations increase for its ready application in postmortem recovery efforts, whether in response to mass disaster or mass atrocity. But whose expectations are being raised, and to what effect? This chapter examines the discourse of forensic intervention that privileges genetics as the necessary and immediate tool to restore identity and achieve social repair. It draws on the examples of two of the largest DNA-led human identification efforts, which ran nearly concurrently—the identification of the World Trade Center victims and the victims of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, specifically the Srebrenica genocide—to consider the interplay between evolving practice and anticipated outcomes, among both the scientific community and surviving kin.

Estimation of Stature from Finger Length Based on the Correlation

Introduction: Estimation of stature is of paramount importance in verifying the identity of an individual from the bodily remains, often after any kind of mass disaster, explosion or intentional cuts and dismantling we encounter very few bodily parts. The objective of the present study was to estimate stature from the measurement of finger length based on the principle of correlation. Methods: The present study consisted of 300 individuals (150 male and 150 female) of age group 18 to 26 years during the period of August 2017 to August 2018. Stature and finger length of individuals were measured by using stadiometer and digital caliper respectively. Data were analyzed by using statistical software SPSS-22. Results: A positive and highly significant (p<0.01) correlation was observed in both genders. Linear regression equation for stature estimation was derived using finger length and checked for their accuracy by comparing the estimated stature to measured stature. The result shows no significant difference between estimated and measured stature. Conclusions: The results indicate that the finger length provides reliable means of estimating the stature of an unknown individual based on the principle of correlation. Hence it can be of significant help in establishing the identity of an individual.

704 Lessons Learned from a Mass Disaster: Successful Institutional Planning and Preparedness

Introduction This abstract discusses the experience of a Burn disaster at the largest thermal power plant of the country, which was successfully managed at our center. The experience gained will hopefully help in the planning and management of similar disaster scenes in resource-constrained developing countries. Methods In a National thermal power plant, there was an explosion in the 500-megawatt unit. Hot fuel gases and steam escaped affecting close to 100 people working around the area. Twenty-six people succumbed to death and six victims who sustained burn injuries were referred to our trauma center where they were received about twenty-six hours after the injury. Despite having no infrastructure supporting the treatment of acute burns, proper planning and coordinated effort by all sectors and persons concerned were immediately initiated and ultimately all patients were discharged in a healthy state with no incidence of mortality or significant morbidity from the burns. Results All the six patients were males ranging from 25 to 45 years age and sustained 20% to 45% deep thermal burns over their bodies. All patients were initially evaluated in the emergency where triage was conducted, and four patients out of six were found to have symptoms of respiratory burns and carbon monoxide poisoning. One high dependency unit (HDU) was immediately converted to a burn ICU(Intensive care unit), and all these patients were nursed in isolation. Two patients had severe airway burns and had to be intubated and ventilated. These patients also required hyperbaric oxygen therapy to revert the carbon monoxide poisoning. Out of the six patients, two patients underwent tangential burn wound excision of both upper limbs and skin allograft placement procured from Skin bank. The other four patients underwent debridement, and allograft application subsequently. all the patients recovered from the burn injuries and were discharged with advice to continue rehabilitation at the regional center. This was one of a kind effort where a trauma center was converted to a full-fledged burn ICU to provide the best possible burn care to the victims. A team of 20 people consisting of Plastic Surgeons, Intensivists, Physiotherapists, Nutritionists, Infection Control Nurses, Wound Care Nurses, Hyperbaric oxygen therapist, and other support staff contributed immensely for management of these patients. Conclusions planned cooperation and prepared coordination between the team of doctors and other support staff are the key in the successful management of a disaster. Applicability of Research to Practice In the event of a mass disaster a level 1 trauma center was immediately converted to a facility equipped to handle burns. This experience gained may be useful in the future in the planning and management of similar disaster scenes in developing countries with limited resources.