Administration for Strategic
Preparedness & Response
Fact Sheet
About Disaster Mortuary Operational
Response Teams
When disasters and public health emergencies occur, there may be more fatalities than local resources are able to manage.
When that happens, a state may request National Disaster Medical System’s (NDMS) Disaster Mortuary Operational Response
Teams (DMORTs) to support local mortuary services on location, focusing on the recovery, decontamination, examination,
identification, and return of deceased victims to help families, friends, and communities find closure.
DMORT Expertise
DMORT team members include coroners, funeral directors/
mortuary ocers, medical examiners, forensic specialists
(anthropologists, odontologists, pathologists), dental
assistants, autopsy assistants, ngerprint specialists, and
diagnostic radiologic technologists, as well as administrative,
logistics, security, and safety specialists.
DMORT Capabilities
Working under the authority of the local/state coroner or
medical examiner, DMORT members provide technical
assistance and consultation on fatality management and
mortuary aairs. DMORTs may be called on to provide a wide
range of services, including but not limited to:
• Tracking/documenting human remains and personal eects
• Assisting in cause and manner of death
• Collecting ante-mortem or postmortem data
• Collecting medical records, dental records, or DNA of
victims from next of kin to assist in victim identication
• Documentation during eld retrieval and morgue operations
• Performing forensic dental pathology and forensic
anthropology methods
• Preparing, processing, and returning human remains and/
or personal eects to appropriate recipients
• Processing and re-interment of disinterred remains
• Providing technical assistance and consultation on fatality
management and mortuary aairs
• Establishing temporary morgue facilities
Disaster Portable Morgue Unit
DMORT personnel mobilize with U.S. government provided
medical equipment and supplies, and other logistical support to
augment state or regional assets. This equipment may include a
Disaster Portable Morgue Unit (DPMU), a depository of
equipment and supplies that can be used to stand up a
complete morgue at a disaster site. Due to its size (5,000 to
8,000 square feet), a DPMU is typically housed in a tent in the
open air or in a large unused structure such as a warehouse.
DPMUs provide ample room for each step that might be
needed, including areas for triaging and admitting human
remains, photography and x-ray, examination/autopsy, and
post-mortem information collection (e.g., fingerprinting,
forensic dentistry, and forensic anthropology).
For more on NDMS specialty teams, visit https://aspr.hhs.gov/
NDMS.
aspr.hhs.gov/ndms
