Announcement: 2nd Annual Forum for disaster victim identification

Chair:
Michael J C Burgess OBE
Coroner of The Queen’s Household
Legal Secretary of the Coroners’ Society of England and Wales

Talks include
DVI in the post-tsunami era; Global disasters and the importance of local culture in disaster victim identification
Dr Jan Bikker, Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification, University of Dundee, Scotland
The complex and challanging nature of the identification process following the 2004 South-East Asia tsunami has provided the DVI community with valuable lessons.The post-tsunami period led to new areas of exploration in terms of international cooperation in DVI, the concept of psychosocial support for surviving relatives and disposition of remains. Less focus is given to DVI processes in (post) conflict areas and cultural customs which may impact the identification process. The presentation will elaborate on the role of local cultural customs in relation to recent large-scale disasters and its implications for the identification process, with specific attention to (post)conflict areas.

The Role of the Coroner in the DVI Process
Michael J C Burgess OBE, Coroner of The Queen’s Household, Legal Secretary of the Coroners’ Society of England and Wales
The importance of inidividual victim identification. The principles of Clearke LJ (Marchioness nsi Report). Who does what.. Role and duties of a coroner, in relation to those deaths where there is reason to suspect that the death was violent, or unnatural or sudden of kunknown cause. The responsibility of the coroner’s inquest to establish from evidence who the deceased person was and how, when and where the death took place - the inquest is not a forum where any liability issue is addressed.

DVI - 101″ training in an undergraduate and postgraduate context
Professor John P. Cassella and Dr Roger Summers, UK, Department of Forensic Science and Crime Science, Faculty of Science, Staffordshire University, UK.Internationally there are a number of Disaster Management organisations offering specialist personnel, equipment, systems and advice at incidents, particularly those involving major loss of life. These organisations offer essential services and have proven their usefulness in international incidents such as the Asian Tsunami and a number of earthquakes, hurricans, and air crashes in which there has been a major loss of life. These situations inevitably involve complex forensic environments in which the dead are present. A number of staff employed by such organisations are recruited from the UK science-graduate pool of anthropologists, biologists, forensic scientists etc. Whilst there are some professional level training courses in the UK there is little opportunity for graduates to appreciate, practice or to train for such events within their degree courses and there is limited ‘scenario training’ offered by the Disaster Management organisations. At Staffordshire University, in considering this current situation concerning basic education and exposure to the stressful environment requiring DVI teams we have incorporated training within the forensic science modular components. Students have opportunities to complete Interpol DVI post mortem forms using a human (not manikin) in order to appreciate the complexity of body mapping, clothing and jewellery cataloguing. Students also undertake analysis of a complex scene involving [mock] cadavers and potential anamnestic materials. The opportunities, successes and challenges that such training involved shall be considered in order that these learning opportunities can be evaluated for dissemination into other appropriate undergraduate courses.

Age estimation from developing teeth
Dr Helen Liversidge, Institute of Dentistry, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London
Dr Helen Liversidge’s research focuses on the age variation in tooth formation and the application of developing teeth to estimate age. Areas of research include testing the validity and reliability of established dental ageing methods and an ongoing worldwide collaboration investigating ethnic differences in tooth formation. Her work has led to the development of several new methods including the London Atlas of tooth development and eruption, a method used with significant success and impact in areas of natural disasters and forensic investigations.
 

Keywords: Forensic Anthropology, Anatomy, DVI, Forensic Jewellery, Design Research, Identity, Emergent Identification Technologies, Disaster Victim Identification, DNA, collection, storage, transportation, computed tomography, mas fataility, identification, logistics, cause of death, Earthquake, reconciliation,dental, mortuary, pathology, Mass Disaster, Post Mortem, autopsy, anti-mortem, repatriation, DNA Profiling, Lineage markers, Ethics, AF447, Commingled remains, anthropology, DNA, Culture, (Post)Conflict, Identification,undergraduate, body mapping,Developing teeth, dental radiograph, estimating age, accuracy

About the chair
Michael John Clement Burgess, OBE (born 31 March 1946) is the Coroner of the Queen’s Household. He was educated at King’s College London. He was appointed deputy coroner in 1991 and was appointed coroner in 2002. He was in charge into the inquest into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Walesand Dodi Fayed until July 2006. He has been the Surrey coroner since 1986.
Brief Biog: 1970, Admitted a Solicitor ; 1979, Appointed Deputy (Surrey) Coroner; 1986-2011, H.M.Coroner for Surrey; 1991-2003, Hon. Sec Coroners Society of England & Wales; 1991-present, responsible for all aspects of emergency planning with coroners and Departments of H M Government; 2000-2001, gave evidence to Clarke, LJ, non-statutory inquiry on Marchioness; 2002-present Coroner of The Queen’s Household (Deputy 1991-2001); 2004-5, Member of Home Office/HPA working party on CBRN Mass Fatality events; 2007-present, joint organiser of UK DVI Coroners Cadre; lecturer, contributor etc for various training events and author of several guidance papers especially for coroners.

About the Speakers

Jan Bikker, is a post-doctoral researcher at the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification (CAHID) at the University of Dundee. He obtained a doctorate from the University of Sheffield on the subject of disaster victim identification. He has participated in disasters in Thailand, Haiti and Peru and conducts casework for Scottish police forces. In Dundee, he is currently working on the FASTID-project with INTERPOL to establish a centralised international database to aid identification of unidentified bodies and missing persons and in this capacity works with international DVI teams and UK police forces on DVI-related training. Dr Bikker is a Membership Secretary and council member of the British Association for Human Identification (BAHID) and a committee member of the British Association for Forensic Anthropologists (BAFA).

Helen Liversidge is a senior clinical lecturer in Paediatric Dentistry at Queen Mary University of London, Barts and The Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry. She gained her PhD at University College London on dental development of the Spitalfield’s Collection, while working in general practice. Her team of students and collaborators have published widely on the variation in tooth formation with age, testing the validity and reliability of established dental ageing methods, new reference data and new approaches to testing performance of age estimation methods.

John P. Cassella, graduated with a degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences and Chemistry in 1988 from Leicester and a Doctorate degree in orthopedic pathology from the University College London in 1993. John completed his postdoctoral work at Imperial College and has worked in many of London’s teaching hospitals in a variety of areas of medical research before taking up a post at the University of Central England as a lecturer in Biomedical Sciences. Subsequently he became a Reader in Biomedical Sciences and ‘Programme Leader’ for the Forensic Science degree courses at the University of Derby. John joined the forensic team at Staffordshire University in 2005 where he teaches aspects of forensic pathology, human identification, forensic biology and body recovery and conducts research into clandestine burial chemistry and also in sexual assault examination. He has successfully delivered short, continuous professional development courses which have included ‘forensics for firefighters’ and teaches on the first UK course forensic nursing staff.

As a former Director of Forensic Services in the Police Service, Roger Summers had a corporate senior management responsibility for the Force Scientific Support, Fingerprint and Forensic Photography Departments, Chemical Development Laboratories, Forensic Submissions Facility, Technical Support Unit and Forensic Medical Examiners. Now a multi-skilled senior manager, he has over thirty eight years continuous experience in all scientific support disciplines. Operationally, Roger has been involved in numerous murder
investigations and many high profile cases, locally, nationally and internationally, almost all of which have led to successful detections, the offenders convicted. He was a Forensic advisor to a former Deputy Chief Constable for over 15 years. During his career he was an active member of many high profile committees. Roger helped make American legal history by preparing and producing photographic ‘bite mark’ evidence leading to the successful prosecution of a rapist-murder (the first time any person had been charged and convicted of ‘first degree murder’ solely on ‘bite mark’ evidence in the USA). These pioneering techniques have now been accepted as the norm when Forensic Odontological evidence is presented in the judicial process worldwide. A senior lecturer of international repute, Roger has given several hundred professional lectures and presentations some so far afield as America, Germany, Hungary, India, Jamaica, Mauritius, Russia and Switzerland. He was a member of the initial multi-national task force team, deployed at the request of the Australian and Thai governments in the wake of the Asian Tsunami where he assisted in establishing forensic protocols for the identification of thousands who perished as a result of the Tsunami. Roger was invited to perform the role of Forensic Consultant, Lecturer at the inaugural and validation stages of the pioneering BSc (Hons) Forensic Science Degree at the University of Derby. His involvement continues at all levels of the forensic science undergraduate and postgraduate academic process as a Senior Lecturer in Forensic and Crime Science at Staffordshire University. Amongst his responsibilities at the University is to design bespoke short courses in respect of ‘Continuous Professional Development’, both within the sphere of Academia and the wider external organisations and Public sectors. On Christmas Eve 2006, Roger returned to the UK, having spent a number of weeks on deployment as a member of the forensic investigation team in Brazil following their worst “Air Disaster” when two aircraft collided at 37,000ft above the Amazon Jungle. More recently in 2010, he was called in by the Lebanese Authorities and Ethiopian Airlines to lead the disaster victim identification protocols and strategies involved with a disaster. He also acted as Forensic liaison between all countries involved. A Boeing 737-800 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea in stormy weather shortly after takeoff from Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport. None of the 90 passengers and crew on board survived. His expertise in Human Identification Techniques and forensic related matters are much in demand internationally both from a teaching and operational perspective