The role of the dentist at crime scenes.
The medical response to a mass casualty further complicates the hectic environment that follows a terrorist event. In addition to providing treatment, medical professionals may discover items or persons of interest to the pending investigation and should be aware of how to handle these situations appropriately. Examples of case law are provided to illustrate how practitioners' actions could help or hinder prosecution. The traditional forensic role of dental professionals is identifying victims through dental records. In this article, the dental professional is considered a member of a disaster response team, and the differences in responsibilities are highlighted.
Naiman
Melissa
M
Disaster Emergency Medicine Readiness Training Center, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60622, USA. mnaima1@uic.edu
Larsen
A Karl
AK
Valentin
Peter R
PR
D002959:Civil Defense; D003415:Crime / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003815:Dentists / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D004190:Disasters; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D005553:Forensic Dentistry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D054527:Mass Casualty Incidents; D023481:Terrorism / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014481:United States