Operational Intervention Relevant to Forensic Medicine with Special Reference to the Various Environmental Environmental Situations and the Typology of Catastrophe

Abstract

Forensic medicine plays an important role, at least in Europe, in the operational intervention in disasters. Legal doctors, in fact, are the only ones who always keep in mind the objectives of the authorities in such situations. These objectives are not only the identification of the victims, but also the reconstruction of the event through the use of all biological and situational elements. In emphasizing these aspects I do not mean to misrepresent our role. The intervention of legal doctors clearly comes after medical assistance. However, if assistance is not properly coordinated, it may happen that very important elements especially useful for reconstructing the event may be lost. It becomes practically impossible to perform the basic function of forensic medicine, the identification of victims.