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News Release

TOM SHEPARDSON, FATHER OF THE DMORT PROGRAM

Thomas J. Shepardson, known in the disaster response community as father of the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) program, died suddenly Tuesday, Feb. 18.

"As a volunteer, Tom's efforts to add mortuary affairs and forensic experts to the National Disaster Medical System brought comfort and peace of mind to thousands of families," said HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson. "The identification of victims and proper treatment of their remains is Tom's lasting legacy. He will be truly missed by not only everyone in the DMORT program but also the entire National Disaster Medical System."

Shepardson first became a volunteer with the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Emergency Preparedness in the late 1980s with a vision and plan to improve our nation's ability to respond to major disasters involving mass fatalities. He proposed volunteer teams be formed of professionals with expertise in not only mortuary affairs but also a variety of forensic sciences.

As a result of his efforts, HHS presented Shepardson's plan to the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS). It was accepted and in 1992 a network of ten DMORT teams, one in each federal region of the country, was established.

Shepardson continued to be a driving force behind the new DMORT program. He was instrumental in the development and procurement of portable morgue systems. As an instructor, he traveled across the country teaching mass fatality incident response at the Emergency Management Institute, the NDMS national conference and for many state governments.

As DMORTs began to carry out missions, Shepardson was there for every major deployment. His first assignment came when a DMORT was sent to assist state and local officials at the Oklahoma City Murrah Building bombing. Shepardson supervised the first use of the portable morgue system for the Korean Air crash in Guam. He also led DMORT response to a series of airline accidents including the 1999 Egypt Air and Alaskan Air crash in 2000.

"Facing the difficult challenges of disaster response with mass fatalities takes an extraordinary individual," said Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness Jerome Hauer. "Tom was someone I knew we could always count on to be there in those trying times. He will be sorely missed."

While working with the National Transportation Safety Board, Shepardson helped develop the family assistance program that is now a key element in our nation's disaster response efforts.

After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Shepardson helped lead DMORT missions that saw teams deployed to both New York City and the Pennsylvania crash site. Over the course of the following ten months, Shepardson continued to lead DMORT assistance to the New York City Medical Examiner's office, which was critical in helping to identify hundreds of victims from the World Trade Center attack.

Ever the innovator, shortly before his death, Shepardson established a DMORT forensic oversight committee and was leading efforts to add cadaver dogs to the DMORT program.

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

Last Revised: February 19, 2003