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Disaster Victim Identification Subcommittee
Officers | Members | Standards | Discipline-Specific Baseline Documents | Research & Development Needs | Presentations
The Disaster Victim Identification Subcommittee focuses on standards and guidelines related to fatality management of a mass fatality incident that involves the scientific identification of human remains.
Officers
Elissia Conlon, Subcommittee Chair, City of New York Office of Chief Medical Examiner
Vacant, Subcommittee Vice Chair
Allison Reese, Subcommittee Executive Secretary, Harris County (Texas) Institute of Forensic Sciences
Members
Donald Bloom, U.S. National Disaster Medical System
Enid Camps, State of California, Department of Justice (Legal Resource Representative)
Joyce deJong, D.O., Western Michigan University School of Medicine
Dennis Dirkmaat, Ph.D., Anthropology Department, Mercyhurst University
Bryan T. Johnson, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Elias Kontanis, Ph.D., U.S. National Transportation Safety Board
Raymond Miller, D.D.S., State University of New York, Buffalo
Eric Pokorak, Federal Bureau of Investigation (Quality Infrastructure Representative)
Naeem Ullah, Office of Chief Medical Examiner, NYC
Mark Wadhams, Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory - American Registry of Pathology
Victor Weedn, M.D., George Washington University
Shawn Wilson, Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office
Standards
Tier 1: On the OSAC Registry
- ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 007, Postmortem Impression Submission Strategy for Comprehensive Searches of Essential Automated Fingerprint Identification System Databases, First Edition, 2018 (effective September 5, 2019).
- ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 010, Forensic Anthropology in Disaster Victim Identification: Best Practice Recommendations for the Medicolegal Authority, First Edition, 2018 (effective September 5, 2019).
Tier 2: Published by a SDO
- ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 006, Best Practice Recommendations for DNA Analysis for Human Identification in Mass Fatality Incidents, First Edition, 2019.
- ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 007, Postmortem Impression Submission Strategy for Comprehensive Searches of Essential Automated Fingerprint Identification System Databases, First Edition, 2018.
- ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 009, Best Practice Recommendations for the Examination of Human Remains by Forensic Pathologists in the Disaster Victim Identification Context, First Edition, 2019.
- ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 010, Forensic Anthropology in Disaster Victim Identification: Best Practice Recommendations for the Medicolegal Authority, First Edition, 2018.
Tier 3: Sent to a SDO
- Mass Fatality Incident Data Management: Best Practice Recommendations for the Medicolegal Authority.
- Mass Fatality Scene Processing: Best Practice Recommendations for the Medicolegal Authority.
- Postmortem Fingerprint Recovery: Guidance and Best Practices for Disaster Victim Identification.
- Forensic Odontology in Disaster Victim Identification: Best Practice Recommendations for the Medicolegal Authority.
Tier 4: Under Development
- Mass Fatality Management: Best Practice Recommendations for the Medicolegal Authority.
- Media Communications Following a Mass Fatality Incident: Best Practice Recommendations for Medicolegal Authority.
- Ethical Considerations in Disaster Victim Identification: Best Practice Recommendations for the Medicolegal Authority.
- Family Management Following a Mass Fatality Incident: Victim Information Center Best Practice Recommendations for Medicolegal Authorities.
- Disaster Victim Identification Process: Best Practice Recommendations for the Medicolegal Authority.
Discipline-Specific Baseline Documents
- None currently.
Research & Development Needs
- See the Research & Development Needs identified by the Disaster Victim Identification subcommittee.
Presentations
- None currently.
In general, the development of standards and guidelines is transitioning from the Scientific Working Groups (SWGs) to the OSAC. Some SWGs will continue to operate to provide other resources within their discipline. The existing SWG documents will remain in effect until updated documents are disseminated by the OSAC or the SWG. SWGDAM will retain the responsibility for updating the FBI DNA Quality Assurance Standards.
– Forensic Science Standards Board: March 2015