Journal Published Online: 01 January 1979
Volume 24, Issue 1

Identification of Mass Disaster Victims: The Swiss Identification System

CODEN: JFSCAS

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.

Author Information

Mühlemann, HR
Dental Institute, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Steiner, E
Dental Institute, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Brandestini, M
Dental Institute, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Pages: 9
Price: $25.00
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Stock #: JFS10805J
ISSN: 0022-1198
DOI: 10.1520/JFS10805J