Disaster Site

The Disaster Site can be the most complex site of a mass fatalities response. The site may be located in the center of a large metropolitan city, on a secluded mountaintop, or in the depths of the ocean. Regardless

FIGURE 2.1 Search and rescue workers gather on April 26, 1995, at the scene of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. (Photo courtesy of FEMA.)

of the location, most people, and particularly surviving family members, have the expectation that the remains will be recovered, identied, and returned to the next of kin in a time frame of their expectations and that the evidence collected at the site will determine the cause and perhaps the perpetrator of the incident. In addition, many families have the expectation that the deceased’s personal effects will also be returned.