Mass Fatalities: Managing the Community Response

A mass fatalities response goes far beyond returning the remains of a loved one to surviving family members. Those charged with this grim but critical responsibility will find themselves immersed in multiple tasks involving diverse individuals, organizations, and priorities. Mass Fatalities: Managing the Community Response examines multiple complex issues while providing practical guidance to communities and responders as they plan for, respond to, and recover from a mass fatalities incident. This book explores the immense array of tasks such as:

• Managing resources and personnel
• Protecting a potential crime scene
• Conducting a comprehensive search and recovery of the remains
• Identifying and returning the remains and personal effects
• Ensuring family members of the deceased are treated with compassion, dignity, and respect
• Making sure responders have the proper tools to complete their responsibilities
• Providing family members, responders, and the impacted community the necessary support to cope with the physical, spiritual, and emotional stressors of a mass fatalities incident

The book explains in detail the functions performed at the mass fatalities operational sites, including the Disaster Site, Victim Identification Center, Family Assistance Center, and Staff Processing Center. It provides organizational charts with job descriptions detailing the roles and responsibilities for an effective leadership team and describes the management of the disaster site, presenting step-by-step procedures for search and recovery. The book also discusses the registration, initial interview, and Notification of Death for family members at the Family Assistance Center and covers best practices for the Victim Identification Center operations. Throughout, chapters emphasize the need for mental health services―exploring the essential elements of providing effective and compassionate support to surviving family members (including children), to responders and their families, and to the community.

An increase in catastrophic disasters in recent years has highlighted the need for sound guidance outlining the protocol for handling these events. Mass Fatalities: Managing the Community Response is an indispensable resource for this formidable task.

Peter Teahen discusses the book in a video on the CRC Press YouTube channel.

Peter R. Teahen is a Funeral Director and founder of the International Mass Fatalities Center and AmericaReady. He has responded to disasters since 1989 and has written and lectured extensively on managing mass fatalities incidents. He has served as a national media spokesperson and a Government Liaison Officer for the American Red Cross and has been interviewed on such programs as Larry King Live, Good Morning America, Oprah, Weather Channel, Fox News, the British Broadcasting Company and Aljazeera. Mr. Teahen has been involved in leadership roles in more than forty-five major disasters throughout the U.S. and globally including the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, the Alaska Air Flt 261 and Egypt Air Flt 990 aviation disasters, Hurricane Katrina 2005, the Indonesian Tsunami 2004, and the Haiti earthquake of 2010. He is recognized for his work on aviation disasters and is internationally known for his work and lectures in critical incident stress management and the psychological and social impact of disasters. He is the recipient of numerous national awards including the National Public Spirit Award. Previous recipients include Ronald Reagan, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Ann Landers, and Dr. Robert Schuller.