Disaster victim identification

A mass fatality event may involve a small number of deceased or it may run to a toll of hundreds of thousands. Correct identification of the deceased is vital to fulfill both judicial and humanitarian requirements. To avoid errors, the process must adopt the highest standards of forensic and scientific rigor. Unfortunately, there is little uniformity of process between countries. The integrating role of Interpol is vital although not yet fully utilized. We summarize the requirements and procedures adopted for reliable disaster victim identification (DVI) and focus on the template devised in the United Kingdom.