'Death in Disasters' seminar

I just got back from the 'Death in Disasters' seminar that was put on by the Pierce County High Risk Populations Disaster Planning Coalition. Of the three quarterly seminars held to date, this was by far the best attended. Of the information presented, here is a summary (taken from one of the speaker's slides):

• Recommend developing a planning committee
  This should include those who handle deaths at your facility on a daily basis (e.g. pathology)
• Identify storage location; evaluation whether facility meets requirements for refrigerated trailer
• Identify staff to perform key morgue management job functions
• Review and adapt (as necessary) protocol for:
  -Death Reporting
  -Managing Personal Effects
  -Decedent Tracking
  -Death Certification

There has been some interest from the WA State Department of Health on putting together several trainings on this issue. Feedback on what type of training might be useful would be welcomed by Cindy Gleason at cindy.gleason@doh.wa.gov - please feel free to share your opinions with her.