Safety

Founder of DMORT program dies

Emergency Management Alert, March 6, 2003

Thomas J. Shepardson, 59, known in the disaster response community as the father of the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) program, died suddenly on February 18, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Shepardson joined the HHS Office of Emergency Preparedness as a volunteer in the late 1980s and proposed the formation of volunteer teams of professionals with expertise in both mortuary affairs and a variety of forensic sciences. As a result, HHS presented Shepardson's plan to the National Disaster Medical System, which established a network of 10 DMORT teams across the country.

Shepardson was also instrumental in developing and procuring portable morgue systems, and he taught mass fatality incident response at various forums throughout the U.S. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, Shepardson helped lead DMORT missions that saw teams deployed to both New York City and the Pennsylvania crash site. In the months that followed, he led DMORT assistance to the New York City medical examiner's office, helping identify hundreds of victims from the World Trade Center attack.

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