Mass Disaster

Question 1

DISASTER

Answer 1

A sudden event that causes great damage and/or loss of life.

Question 2

MASS DISASTER

Answer 2

A sudden event, natural or human-made, that results in the loss of many lives (mass fatality) and causes widespread damage.

Question 3

CATEGORIES of DISASTER

Answer 3

1) Natural Disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, wild fires, tsunamis (i.e. Dec. 26, 2004)
2) Human-made Disasters
a) Accidental (airplane crashes like Swiss Air Flight 111)
b) Intentional (war, acts of terrorism such as 911)

Question 4

IDENTIFICATION OF HUMAN REMAINS: 5 points

Answer 4

1) Visual Identification – made by family members
2) Tattoos –
3) Dental records (Odonotology) and X-rays (Anthropology) – requires intact skull/jaw and available antemortem dental or medical records.
4) Fingerprint identification
5) DNA Identification – can be utilized for each and every piece of recovered human remains; requires that a comparison sample be available from personal effects or family members.

Question 5

Recovered remains can be compared to: 2 points

Answer 5

1) DNA from known personal effects (i.e toothbrush, razor); this is DIRECT comparison
2) DNA from known biological family members (i.e parents, children, siblings); known as INDIRECT identification and uses kinship analysis

Question 6

Benefits of DNA: 3 points

Answer 6

1) Not limited to any one particular body part (i.e fingertips, skull)
2) Small fragments of human remains can be used
3) DNA can be used to associate separated or co-mingled body parts/remains

Question 7

DNA Options: 4 points

Answer 7

1) Routine DNA testing – STR (short tandem repeat) based; uses PCR (polymerase chain reaction) to target and amplify regions of interest
2) Y-STRs – male specific testing; same Y-STR profile passed from father to each of his sons (familial linkages)
3) Mitochondrial DNA – females pass their mitochondria directly to all offspring (familial linkages); uses sequencing; good for degraded and aged samples
4) Mini-STRs - uses smaller fragments that are less susceptible to degradation; STR based

Question 8

CASE EXAMPLES:

Answer 8

1) Swiss Air Flight 111 – Human-made - Accident
2) 911 – Human-made - Act of Terrorism
- President Bush created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS
- Canada’s Actions Since 911:
- Gives police sweeping new powers (arrest and hold up to 72 hours without charging if suspected of planning a terrorist act)
3) Tsunami December 26, 2004 - Natural Disaster