“THE SCANDINAVIAN STAR” Ferry Disaster 1990. Experiences and Recommendation for Records in Dental Practice

摘要

With 158 victims this was the largest disaster handled by the Norwegian Identification Commission. The series of events which lead to this disaster and the international complications will be described. All victims were found and identified. The technique used and the function of the ID-Commission is discussed. Interpol’s work in this field is the basis for our technique. As there were a number of Danish victims, the Danish ID-Commission came to help with the identifications. This co-operation as well as the recommendations for international cooperation after disasters given by Interpol is described. The favourable result was mainly due to the quality of dental records recived and the basis is the Norwegian legislation on the dentist’s recordkeeping. However, not all records were up the standards, and examples will be given. In identification work the forensic odontologist is heavily dependent on dental records for the missing persons and the quality of the record may be decisive for the outcome of the comparison. General recommendations for practical dental record keeping, based on forensic needs, will be given.