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Washington Report
October 2008
by ICCFA General Counsel Robert M. Fells, Esq.
ICCFA alerts private sector partners
about planning for mass fatalities
The ICCFA has published an informational
alert to government entities and to the pri-
vate sector in the August 2008 edition of
The Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP)
Report, published by George Mason University
School of Law.
The CIP Report is part of the ongoing efforts
of the university and its partners to prepare the
nation for catastrophes, either natural (hurricanes,
pandemics) or man-made (terrorism). This
monthly report is widely circulated throughout
academia, the private sector, federal and state
government agencies and Congress.
The article, "Mass Fatalities Management in
the Context of Disaster Planning," focuses on the
work of the Mass Fatalities Management (MFM)
Services Sub-Council, which functions in con-
junction with the Departments of Homeland
Security and Health and Human Services.
An ongoing challenge for the sub-council is to
convince other stakeholders, including govern-
ment agencies and other private sector groups
such as transportation, energy, chemical, banking
and finance, that they will be affected by MFM,
or the lack thereof. Therefore, it has become cru-
cial to raise the awareness level of other stake-
holders to participate and coordinate their emer-
gency responses to include MFM needs.
The MFM Sub-Council is one of nine sub-
councils developed under the Healthcare Sector
Coordinating Council, the private sector counter-
part of the Government Healthcare Coordinating
Council. Members on the MFM Sub-Council
represent “the full spectrum of personnel and
services needed after death, including medical
examiners, coroners, funeral directors, cremation-
ists, cemeterians, clergy and manufacturers and
distributors of funeral, memorial and cremation
supplies. Major trade associations in the death
care industry are also represented on the MFM.”
The sub-council has established several pri-
mary goals through partnering with the federal
and state governments. “First, the sub-council’s
position is that a Mass Fatalities Management
Component should be developed and incorporat-
ed into the National Response Framework and all
other federal agency response plans and policies.
"These plans should include policies and pro-
cedures dealing with the dignified recovery, stor-
age, identification and processing of remains as
well as the timely issuance of death certificates
and the orderly conduct of the funeral and final
disposition." The article in the CIP Report also
discusses the sub-council’s other goals.
A major project for the Sub-Council is to
"coordinate with fellow sectors whose goods and
services are integral to the success of comprehen-
sive mass fatalities management services. For
example, the transportation sector will affect the
supply chain; the chemical sector supplies em-
balming supplies and disinfectants; water avail-
ability is critical for the mortuary and cremation
processes; and food and agriculture could assist
with a need for refrigerated trucks and facilities if
needed." The article was authored by ICCFA
General Counsel Bob Fells, who co-chairs the
MFM Sub-Council. Anyone interested in obtain-
ing more info about CIP or in subscribing to the
report (free of charge), should go to
http://cipp.gmu.edu.
Copyright ICCFA 2008
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