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Identifying the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami: The role of the private sector

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  • Scanlon, Joseph

Abstract

Until the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, identifying victims of a mass catastrophe was done largely by police and forensic scientists who tried to match pre-death and post-death data from paper files. The tsunami brought computer databases into the world of forensic identification and led to major involvement from four private-sector companies from Canada, France, Denmark and Norway. Between them, the firms created a system to improve the handling of missing persons’ calls; an automated fingerprint identification system; a system to generate possible matches between pre and post-death data; and a state-of-the-art morgue in Phuket, Thailand. In the past, there has been private-sector involvement in mass death incidents — for example, most funerals are conducted by private firms — but the tsunami marked a major shift to a public-private partnership in an area that has generally been limited to police and forensic scientists.

Suggested Citation

  • Scanlon, Joseph, 2007. "Identifying the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami: The role of the private sector," Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning, Henry Stewart Publications, vol. 1(3), pages 312-323, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aza:jbcep0:y:2007:v:1:i:3:p:312-323
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    catastrophes; mass death; tsunami; private sector;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M1 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration
    • M10 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - General
    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation

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