Medicolegal Death Scene Investigations After Natural Disaster- and Weather-Related Events A Review of the Literature

This literature review describes efforts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve death reporting methods by various agencies after a disaster. The authors found that there was not a consistent method for attributing deaths caused by a disaster, leading to differing counts and challenging public health surveillance. The authors planned to use the findings to begin developing guidelines to consistently capture data on deaths during disasters. Tables include information on search terms, inclusion and exclusion criteria, operations and protocols on the scene of a mass fatality incident, and select information specific to scene investigation worksheets.