Fatality Management During a Pandemic and Other Emergency Events

Mass fatality events can occur any day and often result from floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, multiple vehicle accidents, fires, droughts, and other natural disasters. Mass fatalities can also occur as a result of human intervention, such as school, mall and church shootings, terrorist attacks, or a pandemic influenza outbreak.

County and Municipal Fatality Management Plan Template

Coroner's Fatality Management Satellite Conference - July 9, 2009

Comprehensive fatality management plans deal with the large number of decedents as a result of a pandemic. For those who manage those bodies, this program offers information for planning consideration. Remember, it's not a matter of if a pandemic will happen, but when. Planning now is not a mistake.

• A County Coroner's Role in Fatality Management Planning and
  Response (2.5 MB)
• Coroner's Fatality Management Satellite Broadcast (5 MB)
• Fatality Management During a Pandemic Webcast
• Fatality Management Toolkit (1.5 MB)
• Management of Dead Bodies After Disasters: A Field Manual for First Responders (1 MB)

Northport Conference Videos and Presentations - May 6, 2008

Video and slide presentations from the Northport conference, as well as other conferences, are available for your training and planning purposes.

The Mass Fatality Management Tabletop Exercise utilized in the Fatality Management Conferences can be modified. Mrs. Edna Register Boone is one of the survivors on the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Survivors Share Their Stories webpage.

• Pandemic Fatality Planning from the Hospital's Perspective
  Mike West, Director, Ambulance Services, Athens-Limestone Hospital
• Pandemic-Related Deaths in Institutional Settings
  Karen Ritter, Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital
• Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency (4.5 MB)
  Michael E. Harter, MEP, Training and Exercise Officer, Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency, Birmingham, Alabama
• Law Enforcement Role and Capabilities During Pandemic Outbreak
  (3.5 MB) Captain Byron Jackson, Jefferson County Homeland Security Division, Jefferson County, Alabama
• Fatality Management: Pandemic Deaths in Hospitals (3.5 MB)
  Donna Keith, MS, CHSP, Safety Manager, St. Vincent's Hospital, Birmingham, Alabama
• Alabama Emergency Management Agency (1.5 MB)
  David Coggins, Field Coordinator, Alabama Emergency Management Agency Region One
• Religious and Cultural Considerations During a Mass Fatality and/or Pandemic Event (6.5 MB)
  Jzyk S. Ennis, MPA, CFSP, Faculty, Funeral Service Education Department, Jefferson State Community College, Birmingham, Alabama
• Medical Examiner and Forensic Sciences Resources (1.5 MB)
  John Krolikowski, MD, Senior State Medical Examiner, Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences
• U.S. Department of Homeland Security Center for Domestic Preparedness (3 MB)
• Fatality Management Rolling Events (1 MB)

Additional Resources

• Appendix 1.8 - A Planning Guide for Funeral Homes and Crematorium Services, Toronto Pandemic Influenza Plan Toronto Public Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, March 2007.
• Operational Best Practices Regarding the Management of Human Remains and Information on the Dead by Non-Specialists for all Armed Forces and for all Humanitarian Organizations (1 MB) International Committee of the Red Cross, November 2004.
• Mortuary Affairs Operations (2 MB) Headquarters, U.S. Department of the Army, January 2007.
• Deceased Personnel: Care and Disposition of Remains and Disposition of Personal Effects Headquarters, U.S. Department of the Army, January 2001.
• Avian Flu Pandemic: Tabletop Exercise after Action Report Dallas County Health and Human Services Bioterrorism and Response Division, Defenbaugh and Associates, Inc., May 2006.
• Planning for a Possible Influenza Pandemic: A Framework for Planners Preparing to Manage Deaths Home Office, Crime Reduction and Community Safety Group, Public Order Unit, Mass Fatalities Section
• Funeral Services and Final Disposition of Mass Fatalities Resulting from a Pandemic Influenza in the United States The Fatality Management Pandemic Influenza Working Group Conference, U.S. Northern Command, Department of Health and Human Services, Joint Task Force Civil Support, March 2006.
• The Provision of Family Assistance and Behavioral Health Services in the Management of Mass Fatalities Resulting from a Pandemic Influenza in the United States The Fatality Management Pandemic Influenza Working Group Conference, U.S. Northern Command, Department of Health and Human Services, Joint Task Force Civil Support, March 2006.
• "World Death Toll of a Flu Pandemic would be 62 Million: Study Examined 1918-1919 Outbreak." The Washington Post 22 December. 2006.
• "Burial Plan Stirs Up Plague Images." The London Times.
• Possible Impacts: Worst-Case Scenario and Opposing Ideas
• Possible Effects of a Pandemic
• "FluWrap: Plague Pits and Mass Burials?" United Press International 4 April 2006.
• Mortuary Service and Handling of the Dead Environmental Health in Emergencies and Disasters, World Health Organization, 2002.
• "Home Office Prepares for 'Mass Burials' if Avian Flu Mutates." 24dash.com 9 August 2007.
• Guidelines for Reporting and Managing Mass Fatality Events Virginia Department of Health, Virginia Department of Health: Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
• Death Out of Healthcare Facility During Pandemic Influenza Event
• Mortuary Affairs in Joint Operations (2.5 MB) Department of the Army, Department of the Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, Department of the Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, Join Chiefs of Staff, 5 June 2006.
• Exercise Foghorn: Report and Further Actions (1.5 MB) Greenwich Teaching Primary Care Trust, 4 April 2006.
• Orleans County Mass Fatality Response Plan December 2007
• ADPH Temporary Burial Site Environmental Issues
• ADPH Legal Issues
• Guidelines for Handling Decedents Contaminated with Radioactive Materials Prepared by Charles M. Wood, Radiation Studies Branch, Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Frank DePaolo, Office of Chief Medical Examiner, New York, New York, R. Doggett Whitaker, National Funeral Director's Association
• Final Mass Fatality Planning Considerations May 2012