Public Health Practices

As part of the 2009-2010 Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) grant, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) partnered with the Colorado Hospital Association (CHA) to design and conduct the three-day Colorado Hospital Mass Fatality Summit to prepare Colorado hospitals for managing a mass fatality event.

Los Angeles County's mass fatality guidance provides detailed tools and recommendations that may assist hospitals and the offices of Medical Examiners and Coroners during an emergency. The guidance provides checklists for planning, staffing a fatalities management unit, and morgue surge.

The Family Assistance White Paper was written by a largely military working group to address how social distancing during a pandemic may affect traditional mass fatality management. The report includes discussion about how to set up a virtual family assistance center that would allow family members to identify and mourn a body and receive emotional support without being physically present on-site during a pandemic.

This city-wide planning document provides detailed information on varied aspects of fatality management during a pandemic and other mass fatality events. Specifically, it defines the local and state jurisdictional responsibilities and identifies key assumptions for handling pandemic influenza-related deaths.