How long will the recovery effort last?

Jack Ballantyne

You have no control over the condition of the remains, so setting criteria about what you will and won’t test becomes an important framework that allows the identification process to move forward.

In addition to policies defining minimum fragment sizes and the number of retestings to obtain data that meets statistical thresholds, the location and size of a mass fatality incident largely determines the duration of the recovery effort and the DNA identification of victims. Remains from an airline crash on land generally are collected in about 2 weeks. In contrast, remains from the WTC were collected over a 10-month period. The end of remains recovery may prompt a decision about how much longer the laboratory will continue to perform the DNA analysis.

Generally, remains are processed as they are accessioned into the morgue. In cases with a large number of victims and/or fragmented remains, it usually is not possible to collect all the remains before the identification process begins—although waiting until all samples have been collected and coordinated may be better (more effective and efficient) from the DNA analyst’s perspective. However, this likely will not be an acceptable approach, because the public, including the victims’ families and public officials, may expect the identification effort to begin at once and proceed rapidly.

Two basic metrics for estimating a laboratory’s workload are the number of samples received per month, and the number of months in the recovery effort. In addition, the public, the press, policymakers, and victim advocacy groups may have expectations of the duration of the recovery and identification processes. In airline disasters, for example, people may expect the entire process— from collecting samples at the disaster site to making identifications in the laboratory—to be completed within 1 to 3 months. The public also may expect the laboratory to complete its work within 1 month of receiving the last sample from the incident site. Chapters 7 (Media Relations) and 8 (Family Coordination and Liaison) of this report provide tools for understanding and responding to these expectations.

In addition to considering the human remains, the laboratory also must consider the reference samples. People concerned with finding their loved ones want to respond quickly, so personal items and biological references may begin arriving at the laboratory very shortly after the incident. If no plan exists prior to a mass fatality incident for collecting reference samples—and sending them in “batches” to the laboratory—Federal, State, or local first-response agencies may help set up family assistance centers. The number of batches and how frequently they are sent to the laboratory will depend on the efficiency and duration of the reference collection process. In turn, the accuracy and completeness of information associated with the reference samples depend on the collection plan.

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