sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
Thanks CIDRAP
Pandemic Influenza Mortuary Planning Guidelines (WI)
<table><tbody><tr><td valign="top"> From: </td> <td align="left" valign="top"> Barron County Health and Human Services - Public Health (Wisconsin)
</td></tr> </tbody></table>
Description and Reviewers' Comments
The Guidelines use the Incident Command System (ICS) to develop detailed and coherent plans for processing human remains during a pandemic. A Pandemic Mortuary Planning Committee assessed the county's current capacity for mortuary management and established the Unified Mortuary Preparation Facility (UMPF) and Family Assistance Center. The UMPF would enable other funeral homes to cease operations and conduct communications and remains processing through the UMPF. The committee also developed a strategy to increase remains processing capacity through resource sharing and utilization of a unified command structure. This guidance is noteworthy, since it could be used as a model for local public health agencies that need to address the difficult issue of disparate and increased mortuary needs during a pandemic. The use of an ICS structure as an organizing framework for this complex task is particularly innovative, since it divides procedures into the areas of Command, Operations, Logistics, and Finance and Administration. The concept of operations also provides several tools required to establish and operate the UMPF under the ICS protocol; these include flow charts on command structure, job responsibilities for coordinators and liaisons, and guidelines for human remains disposition. These guidelines provide minutely detailed and comprehensive logistical information on using a unified and structured system to process the deceased during a pandemic.
Component Parts
Mortuary Planning Guidelines
Pandemic Influenza Mortuary Planning Guidelines (WI)
<table><tbody><tr><td valign="top"> From: </td> <td align="left" valign="top"> Barron County Health and Human Services - Public Health (Wisconsin)
</td></tr> </tbody></table>
Description and Reviewers' Comments
The Guidelines use the Incident Command System (ICS) to develop detailed and coherent plans for processing human remains during a pandemic. A Pandemic Mortuary Planning Committee assessed the county's current capacity for mortuary management and established the Unified Mortuary Preparation Facility (UMPF) and Family Assistance Center. The UMPF would enable other funeral homes to cease operations and conduct communications and remains processing through the UMPF. The committee also developed a strategy to increase remains processing capacity through resource sharing and utilization of a unified command structure. This guidance is noteworthy, since it could be used as a model for local public health agencies that need to address the difficult issue of disparate and increased mortuary needs during a pandemic. The use of an ICS structure as an organizing framework for this complex task is particularly innovative, since it divides procedures into the areas of Command, Operations, Logistics, and Finance and Administration. The concept of operations also provides several tools required to establish and operate the UMPF under the ICS protocol; these include flow charts on command structure, job responsibilities for coordinators and liaisons, and guidelines for human remains disposition. These guidelines provide minutely detailed and comprehensive logistical information on using a unified and structured system to process the deceased during a pandemic.
Component Parts
Mortuary Planning Guidelines