HSD SGER: Cross-Cultural Analysis of Responses to Mass Fatalities Following the Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 26, 2004

这项研究将确定印度、斯里兰卡和泰国在海啸后为找回身体、辨认和处置身体、通知遇难者亲属以及遣返外国遇难者遗体所采用的机制。它还将重点关注斯里兰卡和泰国政府主导的大规模死亡响应与非政府组织驱动的大规模死亡响应(包括紧急组织)的比例，以与西方工业化国家主要由政府驱动的响应进行比较。特别是，这个研究小组将研究种族、社会经济地位和国籍对应对海啸造成的大规模死亡的影响。它还将寻求审查美国、加拿大、法国、瑞典和联合王国等西方国家目前实施的程序，包括通过国际刑警组织委员会制定的国际方法来确定灾害受害者身份。该小组将把亚洲的反应与西方工业化国家以前发生的较小事件进行比较，如爱沙尼亚渡轮事件、洛克比坠毁事件和俄克拉何马城爆炸事件等。这项研究将产生实际成果，例如重新审查大规模死亡的规划程序，包括国际刑警组织制定的程序，并更清楚地了解跨文化对大规模死亡的反应，重点是可以在美国适用的跨文化因素。来自美国、加拿大、澳大利亚、印度和孟加拉国的14名研究人员参与了该项目。两名研究人员是医学博士，一名是建筑师(印度一家应急管理中心的院长)，一名是部长，其他人是社会科学家。十名研究人员将由三个实地考察队组成(一个考察队前往泰国，一个考察队前往斯里兰卡，一个考察队前往印度)。其他项目参与者将提供咨询和支持。这些发现将与参与者所在的大学共享，在《国际大规模紧急情况和灾难杂志》等期刊上发表，并通过电话会议共享。这项研究得到了人类与社会动力学(HSD)优先领域、国际科学与工程办公室(OISE)和地震工程模拟网络(NEES)计划的共同支持。

The study will identify the mechanisms employed in India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand following the tsunami for body recovery, identification and disposal, notification of deceased victims' relatives, and repatriation of remains of foreign victims. It will also focus on the proportion of government-driven mass fatalities response versus non-government organization driven mass fatalities response (including emergent organizations) in Sri Lanka and Thailand as a comparison to the primarily government-driven response in the western industrialized countries. In particular, this research team will study the impact of ethnicity, socioeconomic status and nationality on the response to mass fatalities created by the tsunami. It will also seek to examine the current procedures in place in western countries such as the United States, Canada, France, Sweden and the United Kingdom including the international approach to DVI (disaster victim identification) as developed through an Interpol committee. The team will compare the responses in Asia to those in previous, smaller incidents in western industrialized countries such as the Estonia ferry incident, the Lockerbee crash, and the Oklahoma City bombing, among others. This research will result in a practical outcome such as revisiting of planning procedures for mass death including those developed by Interpol and in a clearer understanding of the response to mass fatalities across cultures focusing upon the transcultural elements that can be applied in the United States. Fourteen researchers from the U.S., Canada, Australia, India and Bangladesh are involved in the project. Two researchers are medical doctors, one is an architect (and dean of an Indian emergency management center), one is a minister, while the others are social scientists. Ten researchers will comprise three field teams (one team to go to Thailand, one to go Sri Lanka, and one to go to India). The other project participants will provide consulting and support. The findings will be shared with the universities of the participants, publishing in journals such as the International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, and shared via a teleconference. This research is supported jointly by the Human and Social Dynamics (HSD) priority area, the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE), and the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) Program.