'Preliminary discussion related Dead Body Management for Police First Responders in Disasters Incident’

On 13 February 2017, ASEANAPOL Secretariat hosted the first meeting on the proposed conduct of a course on 'Dead Body Management for Police First Responders in Disasters Incident’, supported by The Australia-ASEAN Council and organized jointly with ASEANAPOL, National Institute of Forensic M edicine in Kuala Lumpur (NIFM), the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM), Asia Pacific Medico-Legal Agencies (APMLA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).  The meeting was attended by Dr. Mohd Shah Mahmood, Director National Institute of Forensic Medicine Malaysia (NIFM), Superintendent Police Mohd Saleh B. Mohd Hussain, Asst. Director Operations, Internal Order & Security Dept. Royal Malaysia Police and Mr. Jason Byrnes, Senior Liaison Officer in Kuala Lumpur, from Australian Federal Police. They were welcomed by the Executive Director of ASEANAPOL Secretariat, Brig. Gen. Yohanes Agus Mulyono, Director for Police Services PSSUPT Ferdinand R. P. Bartolome, Director for Plans & Programmes ACP Aidah Bt. Othman and Staff.

The objectives of the workshop are to familiarize the participants with the current methods and principles for the management of the dead in an emergency situation of natural disasters and to document the relevant information from victims in order to facilitate forensic identification. For this purpose, the participants will be introduced to the relevant procedures for the proper management of the dead to collect and documenting relevant information.

As a proposal, the course will contain combined key aspects on the management of the dead on ICRC perspective, which will involve the participation of national agencies in Malaysia, who have already experienced and gained expertise on Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) Management who know better the current frameworks and realities of the country. Combinations of lectures, table-top and practical exercises (simulation) will be used to illustrate the key aspects of the management of the dead to provide the participants with understanding and knowledge on some of the key challenges that commonly impact communication and coord ination during the management of disasters involving large numbers of fatalities.

Discussion on the workshop more focused on the date and venue of the course will be conducted and the possibilities may be held in early May 2017 at the Royal Malaysia Police College, Kuala Lumpur.