Among the many people asking questions of NFDA in recent days are funeral professionals serving families whose loved ones died during the earthquake on January 12. Questions include: How can we get the bodies of those who died in Haiti to our funeral home in the U.S.? How can we secure certified death certificates that will be acceptable to insurance companies and other businesses? How will Social Security accept applications for survivor benefits?

As with many aspects to the earthquake response, there are many questions, a few answers and many things in the works.

The U.S. government is finalizing plans on how the bodies of U.S. citizens who died in the earthquake will be secured from the disaster site, identified, processed, returned to the United States, and transported to local funeral homes for funerals/memorial services and final disposition. At last word, the State Department is reporting 26 American fatalities in Haiti.

NFDA was informed by the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which oversees all military activities in South America and Central America, that the remains of all citizens will be sent to the Port Mortuary at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for identification and processing.

The details and logistics concerning how the remains of U.S. citizens will be brought from Haiti to Dover, identified and processed have not been finalized or released, however. NFDA is participating in conversations about this process and will be among the first in the disaster-response community to be notified by SOUTHCOM when plans are finalized and when we might expect to begin repatriating citizens who died in the earthquake.

NFDA does not recommend contacting the Port Mortuary at Dover regarding the repatriation, identification and processing of U.S. citizens; staff there may not have any more definitive answers for you than NFDA does at this time.

As a reminder, while communication is slowly being restored in some areas in Haiti, please do not contact Haitian funeral directors about shipping bodies. Haitian funeral directors likely do not have the resources to ship bodies of citizens to the United States, nor do they have the ability to accept bodies at this time.

NFDA will continue to add updates on its Website concerning the evolving situation in Haiti.