Scanning technology helps bring answers to Shoreham tragedy
Cutting-edge scanning technology was used to help identify victims of the crash at the Shoreham Air Show.
Forensic pathologist Dr Michael Biggs from the East Midlands Forensic Pathology Unit, based at the University of Leicester, undertook the post-mortem examinations following the recent tragedy. His familiarity with post-mortem CT scanning allowed information to be obtained quickly and without the need to resort to invasive techniques.
He formed part of the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team at the invitation of the West Sussex Senior Coroner. DVI is an internationally recognised system for efficiently and reliably recovering and identifying individuals who have died during a mass fatality event. The process requires large numbers of specialists from different backgrounds who have been trained specifically for their respective DVI roles.
The East Midlands Forensic Pathology Unit has an established track record of providing DVI assistance both within the UK and overseas, and regularly contributes to regional and national DVI training programmes. In addition to a large team of police officers and staff from HM Coroner’s office, Dr Biggs worked alongside a forensic anthropologist and forensic odontologist within the mortuary.