Mass Fatality Tracking System (MFTS)

As seen recently at the Surfside Condominium Collapse, the recovery of human remains following an MCI provides responders with a multitude of difficult challenges. Without a formal system in place to collect consistent and quality recovery information in a repeatable process causes both a delay in relevant information collection and the likelihood to miss important location details. The initiation of a human remains recovery record should begin with the collection of comprehensive documentation describing the point of discovery and location to preserve all key forensic data. Following an MCI, these critical pieces of information may be invaluable in identifying the individual, determining cause of death, and documenting evidence. Further, the addition of photos and site details will assist in all aspects of the tasks mentioned above. At present, First Responders, Urban Search & Rescue (US&R), Disaster Mortuary (DMORT) teams, Coroners, and Medical Examiners do not have a system to adequately support the immediate collection and processing of hundreds or thousands of human remains. Falling behind on this effort will inflict compounding levels of disorder as related implications grow. The reality of this situation is that local communities are not prepared to support the information collection and maintenance requirements for the recovery, processing, and storage of large quantities of fatalities. The DHS S&T Project Responder 5 Report (August 2017) identifies one of the Capability Domains as Casualty Management. This topic addresses 3 of the 4 capabilities within the domain: The ability to identify the location of injured, trapped and deceased casualties on the incident scene. The ability to track the status of known and potential casualties from site through reunification. The ability to manage and track large numbers of fatalities through all phases of response. This requirement has also been confirmed by the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS), and the FEMA's DMORT Services Team. This effort will propose the development or adaption of a low-cost and spatially aware electronic tag to catalogue all human remains location information within a centralized cloud-based data storage and display tool. The proposed effort will be required to remain viable in harsh outdoor environments and be self-powered for up to 30 days. It will establish a Recovery ID number to serve as the initial identifier to allow for a fully connected and relational information management solution. Data attributes would include victim/environmental details, photos, and general descriptive text. This solution will ensure that all investigators (radiologists, forensic pathologists, forensic dentists, etc.) have the point of recovery location details available to expedite the identification of remains and ensure that a comprehensive record of all remains recovered has been initiated and maintained.