ABSTRACT
A disaster is a natural or man-made (or technological) hazard resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment. It is a phenomenon that can cause damage to life and property and destroy the economic, social and cultural life of the people; and overwhelms the capacity of the community to cope with the event. The recent tragic aviation accidents in 2014 involving Malaysia Airlines flights MH370 and MH17 shocked the world in an unprecedented manner. This paper focuses on the Malaysian experience in the MH17 mission in Ukraine as well as the first ever international Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) operation for the Malaysian DVI team. The DVI operations in Hilversum, the Netherlands were well described in stages. The Netherlands' Landelijk Team Forensische Opsporing as the lead DVI team in Hilversum operated systematically, ensuring the success of the whole mission. This paper discusses the lessons learned by the Malaysian team on proper DVI structure, inter- and intra-agency cooperation, facilities planning and set up, logistics and health and safety aspects, as well as effective communication and collaboration with other international delegates. Several issues and challenges faced by the Malaysian team were also documented. In addition, the authors shared views, opinions and recommendations for a more comprehensive DVI operation in the future.
Subject(s)
Accidents, Aviation , Forensic Anthropology/methods , Forensic Medicine/methods , International Agencies , Mass Casualty Incidents , Autopsy , Communication , Cooperative Behavior , DNA Fingerprinting , Forensic Anthropology/organization & administration , Forensic Medicine/organization & administration , Humans , Interdisciplinary Communication , International Agencies/organization & administration , International Cooperation , Malaysia , Netherlands , Organizational Objectives , UkraineABSTRACT
Ruptured dissecting aortic aneurysm more commonly occur in men in the 40 to 70 age group, and most commonly is associated with atherosclerosis. Uncommon causes are previous heart surgery, connective tissue disorders and aortitis. Despite its rarity, Clostridium spp aortitis progresses very rapidly with a mortality rate of approximately 79% in adults, typically occurring within 48 hours of infection. We present a case of sudden death due to clostridial aortitis causing ruptured aortic dissection in an apparently healthy adult female, 7 weeks post-spontaneous vaginal delivery. This case highlights the pathology of aortic dissection and cystic media necrosis as presentations of clostridium spp infection in young female adult.
