Topic Collection: COVID-19 Fatality Management Resources

This ASPR TRACIE Technical Assistance Response includes links to information on handling and viewing the remains of a deceased COVID-19 patient as well as planning resources for mass fatality management.

This modeling study estimated that nationwide intensive care unit bed use at 75% capacity would result in 12,000 additional excess deaths in the following two weeks while 100% capacity could result in 80,000 excess deaths in the following two weeks.

This report describes deaths attributed to COVID-19 on U.S. death certificates in 2020.

This document considers ways to track deaths of healthcare workers due to COVID-19, and ways to support their health and well-being during the pandemic.

This tip sheet describes stress management techniques for leaders and supervisors of mortuary and death care workers during COVID-19.

This tip sheet describes stress management techniques for mortuary and death care workers during COVID-19.

This document includes tips and general guidance on how to reduce negative behavioral health impacts for death care workers in a COVID-19 environment.

This guidance is for medical examiners, coroners, pathologists, and others involved in postmortem care of deceased persons under investigation for COVID-19. It includes information on collection and submission of postmortem specimens, biosafety and infection control practices, autopsy procedures, and transportation of human remains.

This guidance provides information on autopsy procedures; infection control practices; collection, preparation, and submission of postmortem specimens; cleaning and waste disposal; transportation of human remains; death reporting; and frequently asked questions specific to patients who died from COVID-19.

This document provides guidance on funerals, memorials, visitations, and graveside services during the COVID-19 emergency.

This document provides guidance on how to report cause of death on death certificates for COVID-19 cases. The document details what to include in each section of the death certificate and includes an appendix with three different scenarios for additional information.

This guidance document offers recommendations to protect the safety and health of postmortem care workers and employers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This document provides guidance for mortuary staff on personal protective equipment (PPE) and handling considerations and diagnosis of COVID-19 at post-mortem examination.

This document guides mortuary and funeral home workers in the handling of deceased persons with COVID-19.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City was often the harbinger for the rest of the country and managing large numbers of fatalities presented a significant challenge to hospitals across the city. ASPR TRACIE met with Andrew Dahl, Jory Guttsman, and Johanna Miele, who shared how their individual hospitals, systems, and enterprises handled decedent management during the first surge in 2020 and beyond.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused patient surges in healthcare facilities around the world, and as deaths increased many hospital morgues became overwhelmed by shortages of space and staff. Mass fatality plans are typically based on no-notice incidents (e.g., mass violence), rather than a years-long public health emergency like COVID-19. ASPR TRACIE met with Jessica Gould, Linda Scott, and Lynn Sutfin (subject matter experts) from the State of Michigan to learn more about how they overcame these challenges and quickly implemented solutions for managing human remains with dignity.

This document identifies potential best practices based on lessons learned in organizing alternate funeral arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This document offers best practices related to mass casualty management. It includes key considerations, lessons learned from mass casualty operations, death determination, identification of temporary storage sites, and management of contagious contaminated remains.

This article shares innovations implemented by a healthcare system in New York City during the first surge of the COVID-19 pandemic to supplement fixed morgue space, expand staffing capacity, share supplies, leverage information technology systems, and provide psychological support to staff managing a large number of decedents.

This checklist guides development or an update to an existing hospital mass fatality plan.

This annex to Colorado's COVID-19 plan informs the state's coordinated recovery, storage, transportation, processing, identification, final dispositions of remains, and death notification activities.

This webpage (specific to New York City) includes links to information on body collection, a survey designed to maintain morgue census, and guidance on reporting COVID-19-related deaths as well as hospital information and plan templates.

This form is an example of information healthcare providers are required to report to one county health department on COVID-19 associated deaths.

This planning guide was created to help healthcare partners develop a detailed mass fatality plan. It provides a framework for mass fatality management during events of all sizes, including large-scale disasters (earthquakes); smaller, more localized incidents (explosion, shooting); and long-term events (widespread disease outbreaks). It is organized into two primary components, a base guide and appendices. The base guide provides step-by-step directions in the development of mass fatality plans, and the appendices include supplemental resources to aid in plan development.

This template provides a framework to develop or refine a healthcare facility's mass fatality management plan. For additional details, planners may refer to the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency Mass Fatality Management Guide for Healthcare Entities.

This coronavirus fatality management tabletop exercise can be used by government, private sector, and nonprofit organizations. Access the Situational Manual here: https://files.asprtracie.hhs.gov/documents/covid19-fatality-management-ttx-sitman-25march2020-508.docx. The Situation Manual provides exercise participants with a hypothetical scenario that depicts numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths at the state, regional, and national levels over a period of 40 days and includes discussion questions regarding the following topics: coordination of fatality management operations; information collection and reporting; legal and regulatory considerations; supply chains and resource management; infection control; continuity of operations; mental and behavioral health services; and public messaging and risk communications. The accompanying slide deck provides an overview of the scenario to set the stage for discussion.

This Situation Manual and accompanying slide deck (available at https://files.asprtracie.hhs.gov/documents/covid19-fatalitymanagement-ttx-facilitation-deck-25march2020-508.pptx) are designed to assist government, private sector, and nonprofit organizations in identifying issues or challenges that may arise when conducting fatality management operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Situation Manual provides exercise participants with a hypothetical scenario that depicts numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths at the state, regional, and national levels over a period of 40 days and includes discussion questions regarding the following topics: coordination of fatality management operations; information collection and reporting; legal and regulatory considerations; supply chains and resource management; infection control; continuity of operations; mental and behavioral health services; and public messaging and risk communications. The accompanying slide deck provides an overview of the scenario to set the stage for discussion.