ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 1 January 1979
Page Count: 9

Identification of Mass Disaster Victims: The Swiss Identification System
Steiner, E
Department chairman, clinical instructor, and bioengineer, Dental Institute, University of Zurich,

Mühlemann, HR
Department chairman, clinical instructor, and bioengineer, Dental Institute, University of Zurich,

Brandestini, M
Department chairman, clinical instructor, and bioengineer, Dental Institute, University of Zurich,

(Received 17 February 1978; accepted 27 April 1978)

Abstract

In eleven airplane crashes between 1963 and 1974 there were 1189 victims [1]. One hundred sixty-seven victims could not be identified, 331 were identified wholly on the basis of dental evidence, and 166 other cases were identified from dental and other evidence (Table 1). With the standard methods of forensic odontology each victim who had to be identified by comparison of postmortem and antemortem dental records required, on the average, three man-hours just for the postmortem oral examination [2]. A complete set of antemortem dental records may take days to reach the identification center, may be incomplete or incorrect, or may not exist at all [3,4]. Thus a quicker and more accurate identification procedure for victims of mass disasters remains a goal of forensic science.

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Paper ID: JFS10805J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS10805J
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