Teams are composed of: Forensic pathologists Forensic dentists Forensic anthropologists Fingerprint specialists Medicolegal investigators Funeral directors/embalmers Medical records technicians X-ray technicians Photographers Dental assistants Mental health specialists Security and administrative personnel Support personnel DMORT maintains Disaster Portable Morgue Units (DPMU) in Maryland, Texas and California, containing equipment and supplies to outfit a complete morgue with designated workstations for each morgue station. The DPMU includes: Equipment for forensic disciplines Support equipment: such as generators and hot water heaters Portable digital dental and full body x-ray Morgue management software to manage antemortem and postmortem data IT equipment: such as computers, copiers, faxes and radios Partitions and supports DMORT also provides targeted teams for some critical needs of a mass fatality response. These teams augment and provide specialized services to the regional teams. These are: Family Assistance Center (FAC): Manage collection of antemortem information Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD): Decontamination of chemically contaminated remains Disaster Portable Morgue Unit (DPMU): Logistics personnel to transport, erect, maintain, and dismantle the incident morgue The National Response Framework’s Emergency Support Function #8 (Public Health and Medical Services) Annex covers the DMORT response.It says: “ESF #8, when requested by State, tribal, or local officials, in coordination with its partner organizations, will assist the jurisdictional medico-legal authority and law enforcement agencies in the tracking and documenting of human remains and associated personal effects; reducing the hazard presented by chemically, biologically, or radiologically contaminated human remains (when indicated and possible); establishing temporary morgue facilities; determining the cause and manner of death; collecting antemortem data in a compassionate and culturally competent fashion from authorized individuals; performing postmortem data collection and documentation; identifying human remains using scientific means (e.g., dental, pathology, anthropology, fingerprints, and, as indicated, DNA samples); and preparing, processing, and returning human remains and personal effects to the authorized person(s) when possible; and providing technical assistance and consultation on fatality management and mortuary affairs. In the event that caskets are displaced, ESF #8 assists in identifying the human remains, recasketing, and reburial in public cemeteries.”
