Advancing international cooperation in disaster response: the “Center for Disaster, Forensic, and Biometric Sciences”

Abstract

In our interconnected world, crises and disasters rarely confine themselves to national borders, often affecting citizens from multiple countries. Furthermore, when a major catastrophe strikes, a single country may lack the necessary resources to handle the consequences. Complicating matters, the incident itself may have severely damaged or destroyed emergency infrastructures, making response and recovery a formidable challenge. Mass disaster (MD) involving many victims requires multinational collaboration, utilising a common forensic language and a unified system for gathering, sharing, and comparing data and information. Recognizing the importance of a cooperative approach to disaster management, the “European Centre for Disaster Medicine” has recently formed a dedicated Work Group aimed to establish a specialised centre, known as the “Center for Disaster, Forensic, and Biometric Sciences”, focusing on developing standards and guidelines for the handling of forensic activities in emergencies, disasters, and terrorist attacks. This paper aims to outline the origins, objectives, purposes, and participating bodies of this new entity.

Keywords

• crisis
• disaster management
• disaster response
• forensic activities
• mass casualty management
• victim identification