G0386: Mass Fatalities Incident Response Course

This course prepares state and local response personnel and other responsible agencies and professionals to handle mass fatalities effectively and to work with the survivors in an emergency or disaster.

This course covers incident management; mass fatalities; planning before and operations during an incident; establishing the morgue; family assistance support operations; and assistance from the Federal government. The course concludes with a tabletop exercise.

Participants will learn to identify the characteristics of a mass fatality incident and identify the roles and responsibilities of key personnel in the incident. In addition, the instructor will describe the steps required to respond to a mass fatalities incident, including catastrophic numbers of fatalities and contaminated remains, and help participants determine their jurisdiction¿s preparedness for a mass fatalities event.

Selection Criteria: The target audience for this course is local responders who may have responsibility for the recovery, handling, identification, and return of remains following a mass fatalities incident.

• Describe the critical operational activities:
  • Notification
  • Staging
  • Search and recovery
  • Morgue operations
  • Media relations
  • Family assistance
• Explain how the Family Assistance Center is used to support families and to aid identification of the deceased.
• Identify the requirements to ensure that the psychological needs of morgue personnel are addressed.
• Recognize the importance of Critical Incident Stress Debriefings for responders at a mass fatalities incident.
• Identify the resources that are available during a mass fatalities incident and describe their roles and responsibilities.
• Apply the principles of ICS to a simulated incident.