The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has published a new manual that dispels myths about the handling and the effects of mass casualties following a natural disaster, such as the December 26 earthquake and tsunami in South Asia.
The book, Management of Dead Bodies in Disaster Situations, provides the technical information needed to support relief workers in the proper management of dead bodies, based on the following principles:
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When a death is the result of a disaster, the body does not pose a major public health risk for the spread of infection.
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Victims should not be buried in common graves.
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Mass cremation of bodies should not take place when this goes against the cultural and religious norms of the population.
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Every effort should be made to identify bodies, and—as a last resort—unidentified corpses should be buried in such a way as to permit later identification or exhumation. This is a basic human right of surviving family members.
“Regrettably, we continue to be witness to the use of common graves and mass cremations for the rapid disposal of dead bodies owing to the myths and beliefs that corpses pose a high risk of epidemics,” PAHO Director Mirta Roses writes in the book’s foreword. “These measures are carried out without respecting identification processes or preserving the individuality of the deceased.”
“There is no justification from the medico legal standpoint not to follow all scientific procedures for the recovery, transfer, identification and final disposal of the remains of disaster fatalities,” the manual notes. The book recommends that “a select group of experts who are experienced in these procedures should oversee the process.”
PAHO book:
Management of Dead Bodies in Disaster Situations
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