Mersin Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Lokman Hekim Tıp Tarihi ve Folklorik Tıp Dergisi

Öz

Identifying a living or dead person and revealing the features that will distinguish them from other people is called identification. With this article, it is aimed to emphasize the importance of identification in disaster after the earthquake experience that occurred in the center of Kahramanmaraş province in February 2023 and affected 11 provinces. In addition to its legal importance, the identification of disaster victims is also important for spiritual and social well-being. In order to achieve post-traumatic recovery and psychological well-being, identification must be made with minimal errors. It can be said that not finding the body at all or for a long time, incorrect diagnosis, repeated sampling, conquest of the grave experiences will create new traumas and may also lead to legal errors. There were deficiencies in identification process in the earthquake that affected 11 provinces in February 2023. Considering the reality of living in an earthquake geography, identification studies need to be developed to prevent the deficiencies from occurring again. For this purpose, the disaster victim identification and burial working group in the Turkey Disaster Response Plan should be formed with experts on the subject, and the identification and burial section of the Turkey Disaster Response Plan should be developed.