Articles
October 2005
The Director - Features
Responding to a Major Disaster
Each major disaster presents its own particular requirements. Almost all disasters require people experienced in various fields: identification officers, pathologists, dentists, autopsy personnel, licensed embalmers and others. The local medical examiner or coroner’s office will normally have jurisdiction over the removal, examination, identification, preparation and release of the deceased. Relatives always cause early and continuous pressure for the recovery and release of the remains. Religious requirements, the means of final disposition, and the need for autopsies, identification, preservative treatments, etc., should all be taken into consideration, while also weighing the time element needed to fulfill legal requirements before the release of bodies to families. The deceased will not be released until that body is identified and usually autopsied, establishing the cause of death.
Responding to a Major Disaster, written by C. Richard Sanders, was originally published in the 1980s. Clearly, the information in it remains useful today.
Sanders graduated from the California College of Mortuary Science, Los Angeles, California, in 1949. during more than 50 years in funeral service, Sanders specialized in cosmetics and restorative arts, served as vice president of a high-volume funeral home in California, and worked as a Dodge Company sales representative. He also served as a contributing editor to the
Dodge Magazine, worked as a staff member of the Dodge Institute, presented lectures and seminars throughout the U.S. and internationally, and contributed to the third edition of
Embalming Cosmetology and the textbook,
Embalming: History, Theory & Practice. Sanders retired in 1996 to Largo, Florida, with his wife, Jacquelyn.
