NCJ Number
203511
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 48 Issue: 6 Dated: November 2003 Pages: 1331-1335
Date Published
November 2003
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article discusses dental identification and the experiences of the dental team investigating the Gander (Newfoundland) disaster.
Abstract
A flight carrying 248 United States Army personnel crashed on takeoff from Gander International Airport. No one survived. Identification efforts were hampered by the fact that the military members were carrying their medical and dental records, which were either destroyed or only gradually recovered during the following 2 months. Data from the official Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) forensic-dentistry after-action report were reviewed. Only the organization, information procedures, victim processing, and problems that directly affected the dental team were reviewed. The most significant obstacles to the successful dental identification of all the personnel lost were the loss of antemortem dental records, including panograph radiographs, and the tremendous destruction of dental tissues. The recommendation that the Gander dental-identification team made was that no permanent dental record and radiograph must ever accompany service members while they are in transit. Each branch of the service should maintain dental records and radiographs for military members that are to be deployed to hostile areas separate or isolated from the members. The military should establish a central repository for the storage of duplicate dental records including duplicate panoramic radiographs on every military member. The recovery team should make every effort to employ stringent measures to preserve dental remains during their recovery and transportation to the identification center. To optimize the preservation and collection of dental evidence at the disaster site, dentists should be members of the search-and-recovery team. Mental stress among dental team members is unavoidable even when measures are used to curtail it. The dental-identification team leader and dental-team members are the main source of support for each other during the on-site operation. The professional staff must be watchful so that they can institute appropriate health care measures when they are needed. Other recommendations are the use of computers in forensic dentistry and the appointment of a triservice dental-identification team. 1 table, 27 references