Mortuary services

Victim Identification/Mortuary Services. Lead HHS Agency ASPR in coordination with DHS/FEMA... 

Action Assist in providing victim identification and mortuary services, including DMORTs temporary morgue facilities victim identification by fingerprint, forensic dental, and/or forensic pathology/anthropol-ogy methods and processing, preparation, and disposition of remains. Another important function of DMORTs is the provision of family support centers. 

The National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) supplements state and local medical resources by delivering direct medical care to disaster victims. Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT) provide prehospital treatment. Sixty existing teams, some tailored to focus on pediatrics, bums, mental health, and other specialties, including mortuary services, are in place around the country. Like military reserve units, the teams are community-based and composed of local health providers who train on weekends. Twenty-one are fully deployable and can be on the scene in 12 to 24 hours with enough food, water, shelter, and medical supplies to... 

Assault troops on the Gilberts used the power driven and 3-gallon decontaminating apparatus to spray sodium arsenite on the dead since it was impossible to provide mortuary services in the assault. The... 

The National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) is a section within the United States. DHS is responsible for supporting federal agencies in the management and coordination of the federal, medical response to major emergencies, such as acts of terrorism, including the potential use of chemical agents. Special teams available under NDMS include Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, Veterinarian Medical Assistance Teams, Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams, National Nurse Response Teams, and National Pharmacy Response Teams (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Web site). 

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