MASS FAT

MASS DISASTER INCIDENT

What specific type of large-scale event, which can occur suddenly or slowly, results in many injuries or deaths and completely overwhelms local response resources?

OPEN DISASTER

Name the specific category of disaster that occurs when many people die, but their identities are unknown and no manifest or records are available to response teams.

CLOSED DISASTER

A commercial bus carrying a known list of 45 factory employees on a weekend retreat crashes into a ravine, resulting in 40 confirmed fatalities. What specific disaster classification applies based on the availability of victim records?

MAN-MADE DISASTER

If a toxic chemical gas leak occurs due to negligence at a regional manufacturing plant, causing widespread respiratory failure in a nearby community, this would be classified under what broad category of disaster?

PANDEMIC

What specific sub-classification of a biological disaster is defined as an illness or disease spreading rapidly across multiple countries or worldwide?

MASS CASUALTY INCIDENT

A stadium structure undergoes a major collapse during a concert, resulting in over 150 severe injuries requiring immediate trauma care, but zero fatalities are reported. Is this event classified as a Mass Fatality Incident (MFI) or a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI)?

EPIDEMIC

What specific sub-classification of a biological disaster is used when a high number of individuals within a specific local community or region contract an infectious illness at the exact same time?

MEDICAL CARE AND SAVING LIVES

A localized flash flood completely submerges three residential blocks. There are 200 citizens displaced and injured, but everyone survives due to prompt medical triage. What is the operational priority for emergency services in this specific situation?

MANNER OF DEATH

Beyond the sheer number of bodies, what is the second element regarding the deceased that investigators must analyze under the first key criterion to officially classify a situation as an MFI?

LANDSLIDE

What specific type of disaster is triggered by a sudden, massive downward slide of rock, earth, or debris along a slope, typically following heavy rainfall?

DVI TEAM

The specific component of the overall emergency response responsible for body recovery, identification, and communication with families during a mass fatality incident.

LEAD AUTHORITY

The agency or organization that usually assumes the initial command responsibility for the overall operation when a disaster strikes to ensure coordination of personnel and resources.

SETTING UP BARRIERS/CORDONING

The initial action of setting up physical barriers or cordons to contain a disaster site and restrict access by unauthorized personnel.

DVI ADVANCE TEAM

The specific group, typically comprising a senior DVI member, forensic pathologist, police, and other specialists, that is the first DVI element to visit a safe site.

RISK AND HAZARD ASSESSMENT

The critical operational activity that must be conducted by the lead authority before any personnel (including DVI responders) are safely deployed onto the incident site to check for structural instability or hazardous materials.

PRE-OPERATION MEETING

The specific meeting held once a team has gathered enough preliminary facts to explain goals, assign roles, and finalize timelines before field operations begin.

MEDIA AND PUBLIC INFORMATION TEAM

The team responsible for managing communication with the public and preventing informational gaps during a mass fatality crisis.

INVESTIGATION UNIT

The specialized agency or team responsible for discovering the underlying technical or operational cause of a disaster (such as a plane crash).

ENTRY AND EXIT LOG

The specific tool used at control access points to keep a precise record of all authorized individuals entering and exiting the disaster scene.

SECURITY AND SAFETY RISK

A category of disaster risk that encompasses fire hazards, explosions, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats.

COORDINATION AND COMMAND FRAMEWORK

The coordinating mechanism implemented by the lead authority to explicitly establish how multiple active scene agencies will be contacted, controlled, and directed toward shared goals.

LANGUAGE BARRIER

The specific challenge encountered in international disaster incidents that creates systemic coordination gaps due to verbal or written disconnects among global response teams.

DAMAGE ASSESSMENT

The field assessment parameter focused on estimating the scope and scale of structural damage to buildings, roads, bridges, and utilities.

HUMAN IMPACT

The field assessment parameter focused on recording the number of casualties, missing persons, and determining immediate transportation needs to medical or mortuary facilities.

COORDINATION ZONE

The systematic zone system established by the lead authority to provide designated staging areas for team leaders and responders to minimize site contamination.

DVI COMMANDER

The overall leader of the DVI response who coordinates all phases and reports to the lead disaster authority.

RECONCILIATION PHASE

The specific operational phase where ante-mortem and post-mortem data are compared and matched to confirm a victim's identity.

FORENSIC ODONTOLOGIST

The primary forensic specialist responsible for analyzing and comparing dental records for identification purposes.

SCENE COORDINATOR

The phase coordinator tasked specifically with managing body recovery at the physical disaster site.

TABARDS/ARMBANDS

Distinctive items worn over clothing by team members at a scene to clearly display their specific role and avoid confusion.

ANTE-MORTEM COORDINATOR

The phase coordinator responsible for managing data collection from families, such as medical records and personal effects.

FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST

The specialist discipline focused on identifying bones and skeletal remains during a DVI operation.

CLEAR CHAIN OF COMMAND

In a DVI structure, it is important that this is present so all the different teams involved in the DVI will be able to know what to do, who to report to, and how to communicate important matter before and during the operation.

POST-MORTEM COORDINATOR

The phase coordinator who directly oversees body examinations and autopsies

LIAISON OFFICER

A supporting professional whose core duty is to coordinate communication and operations between different agencies or countries.

FINGERPRINT EXPERT

Primary specialists who utilize unique finger ridge patterns to establish or verify victim identities.

PROPERTY MANAGER

The supporting professional responsible for handling, indexing, and safeguarding the personal belongings found on or near victims.

QUALITY ASSURANCE TEAM

The team responsible for checking that all data collected across DVI phases is entirely accurate and consistent.

DVI SPECIALIST COORDINATORS

The title given to discipline-specific experts (like a DNA Lab Coordinator) who manage their distinct technical teams and oversee outputs like charts or profiles.

SIMULATIONS AND DRILLS

The proactive, practical exercises DVI teams use during pre-planning, supervision, and emergency response before an actual disaster occurs.

INTERPOL

The international body that facilitates global cooperation and aid when local forensic capacities are overwhelmed.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

The specific executive department that leads the MDM Cluster under the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

BARANGAY CAPTAIN

The local official who serves as the Incident Commander if a disaster occurs strictly within the limits of a single barangay.

NATIONAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

The specific bureau tasked to take the lead in identifying human remains caused by natural disasters. State the specific office/expert of said unit/agency.

PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE

The law enforcement agency tasked to take the lead in identifying human remains caused by human-induced disasters. State the specific office/expert within said unit/agency.

PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE

The national agency primarily responsible for leading operations to track down and manage missing persons.

P/C/MSWDO

The specific localized office (at the provincial, city, or municipal level) that leads the care and support for bereaved families.

LOCAL HEALTH OFFICER

The health official responsible for issuing the final Death Certificate during a natural disaster scenario.

PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE/NATIONAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

The entities responsible for directly issuing the Certificate of Death in a human-induced disaster scenario.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The executive agency with the primary responsibility for planning, monitoring, and evaluating overall MDM implementation.

OFFICE OF CIVIL DEFENSE

The specific office that acts as the secretariat of the NDRRMC and handles primary logistics support mechanisms.

REGIONAL HEALTH DIRECTOR

The designated health leader when a disaster expands to involve two or more provinces.

THREE FEET

The maximum allowed depth (in feet) below the ground for burying unidentified bodies in a temporary collective grave.

POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION

The DVI principle stating that every single action must support accurate identification of each victim.

QUALITY STANDARDS

The DVI principle stating that processes must be scientifically sound and professionally managed.

R/P/C/MDRRMC

The specific council body that provides the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) with the official list of dead foreigners.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNIT

The administrative unit responsible for continuously updating missing persons list and submitting copies to the PNP/NBI.

MISSING PERSONS INQUIRY DESK

The specific local inquiry mechanism or desk that the LGU SWDO must activate for managing missing individuals.

BARANGAY CAPTAIN

The local official who must explicitly certify that a reported missing person is an actual resident of the affected community.

LOCAL SOCIAL WELFARE AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

The specific office who must certify that a reported missing person was directly affected by the disaster.

OFFICE OF CIVIL DEFENSE REGIONAL OFFICE

The regional branch office that facilitates the processing of requirement checklists for benefit claims.

LATEST NATIONAL CENSUS

The alternative historical data source used as a basis for tracking missing persons during massive calamities when local records are completely wiped out.

WARRANTS SECTION

The specific police section where the PNP must verify the records of a reported missing person to confirm their identity.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNIT

The government unit responsible for the final disposition of unclaimed but successfully identified bodies.

NDRRMC CHAIRPERSON

The highest national chairperson to whom the OCDRO sends the final endorsement for payment of benefit claims.

LDRRMC

The council responsible for endorsement of initial payment of benefit claims

NUMBER OF DEATHS

Beyond the way a death has occurred, what is another element regarding the deceased that investigators must analyze under the first key criterion to officially classify a situation as an MFI?

NUMBER AND MANNER OF DEATH

The first criterion of a mass fatality incident.

IMPACT ON LOCAL RESOURCE

A criterion of MFI stating that an incident escalates in severity when the number of complexity of deaths exceeds the capacity of local response agencies.

MASS FATALITY INCIDENT

What term refers when a happening generates more victims (deceased) than local resources can manage?

EFFECT IN RESPONDERS AND THE COMMUNITY

Which among the criteria of MFI states that emergency workers and entire communities experience emotional, psychological, and logistical strain because of mass fatality incidents?

MASS FATALITY INCIDENT INVESTIGATION

This term focuses on DVI, determine cause and manner of death, and collect evidence if incident is criminal in nature.

SEARCH SCENE AND RECOVERY

What multidisciplinary investigation process’s primary goal is to have a systematic and respectful recovery of human remains?

DOCUMENTATION

Under the first multidisciplinary investigation process, what term refers to the mapping, photographing, and treating of a scene as a medicolegal death scene and often as a crime scene?

TRIAGE

This is the action of documenting, uniquely tagging, and securely transporting remains and fragments to facilities.

MORGUE OPERATIONS

A multidisciplinary investigation process about the scientific and medical processing of recovered victims.

PATHOLOGY

The conduct of autopsies to determine the cause of death and incident trauma patterns.

BIOMETRICS AND EVIDENCE

What sub-operation of the second multidisciplinary investigation process is the collection of data for positive identification?

ANTE-MORTEM DATA COLLECTION

To establish identity, investigators gather information of missing individuals. What multidisciplinary investigation process does the sentence talks about?

DATA GATHERING

What action refers to conducting family interviews to collect information about a victims distinguishing marks, tattoos, and medical/dental record?

REFERENCE SAMPLES

DNA samples, and official dental/medical records are types of what sample?

RECONCILIATION

The process where forensic experts compare data gathered from the morgue (PM) with the information collected from missing persons’ families (AM).

CONFIRMATION

What term refers to when positive identification is confirmed through scientific rigorous matches?

INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

Guidelines established by INTERPOL DVI

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

If the incident was intentional or suspected to be the result of negligence, law enforcement runs a parallel investigative track. Which multidisciplinary investigation process does this refer to?

EVIDENCE COLLECTION

In this process, investigators gather eyewitness testimonies, digital and physical evidence, and reconstruct sequence of events.

LOCAL POLICE

Agencies involved in criminal investigations.

NATURAL DISASTER

These are sudden, extreme events caused by natural forces such as weather, earth movement, or water. They often result in serious damage to property, the environment, and even loss of life.

HIGH LEVEL OF ORGANIZATION

In an MFI, this is required. It involves law enforcement and emergency medical services, government agencies at local an national levels, forensic teams and DVI specialists, and volunteers and humanitarian organizations.

EARTHQUAKE

Refers to the shaking of the ground caused by movement beneath the Earth’s surface.

FLOOD

The overflow of water that submerges land and buildings, often caused by heavy rain or typhoons.

CYCLONES

Powerful storms with strong winds and heavy rain.

TSUNAMI

Large sea waves caused by underwater earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.

BUSH FIRES

An example of a natural disaster with uncontrolled fires in forest or grassland areas

TORNADO

A fast-spinning column of air that touches the ground and can destroy buildings and trees.

MAN-MADE DISASTERS

These disasters are caused by human actions, either by accident, negligence, or on purpose.

NUCLEAR AND RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCIES

These disasters release a harmful of radiation due to accidents at nuclear power plants or use of nuclear weapons.

BIOLOGICAL DISASTERS

What specific type of disaster is about the spread of harmful viruses, bacteria, or diseases.

CHEMICAL DISASTEER

A type of disaster that occurs when there is a release of dangerous chemicals into the air, water, or soil.

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

Accidents in factories or industries that cause explosions, fires, or pollution.