Disaster victim identification : national guidelines.

Introduction -- DVI command and control -- Activation of a national response -- Logistics and resources -- Phase one: the scene -- Phase two: the morturary -- Phase three: DVI antemortem information retrieval -- Phase four: DCI reconcilliation -- Phase five: debriefing

Large scale disasters usually involve multiple deaths. The process of disaster victim identification (DVI) fulfils a very important sociological and legal need as well as contributing to disaster investigation. The purpose of this document is to set an Australian national approach for DVI procedures. It provides an explanation of DVI together with the requirements, functions and procedures which enable the process to work efficiently and effectively. Current procedures used in Australia are based on those developed by INTERPOL. They have served us well to date, but States and Terrirories have differed somewhat in their approach. There is widespread recognition that we need to standardise in many areas of emergency management because of our relatively small population for such a vast continent. DVI is certainly one such area