Aircraft Crashes & Disaster Planning

Aircraft Crashes & Disaster Planning

                                                                                                                  Dr. Abhishek Karn

Since 1949 - the year the first aircraft landed in Nepal - there have been more than 70 different crashes involving planes and helicopters, in which more than 700 people have been killed….. (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26222528)

The Nepali skies saw 65 air mishaps in the last two decades…..

Aircraft accident

Defined as an occurrence that is associated with the operation of an aircraft and takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with intention of flight and such time as all such persons have disembarked and the engine/s or any propellers or rotors come to rest, being an occurrence in which:

·         a person is fatally or seriously injured

·         the aircraft sustains damage or structural failure

·         the aircraft is missing or completely inaccessible.

Serious Injury means any injury that is sustained by a person in an accident and that:

·         requires hospitalisation for >48 hours, commencing from within 7 days from the date of injury; or

·         results in the # of any bone, (except simple #s of fingers, toes); or

·         involves lacerations, severe haemorrhage, nerve/muscle/tendon damage; or

·         involves injury to an internal organ; or

·         involves 2^nd / 3^rd degree burns, or any burns affecting >5% of the body surface; or

·         involves verified exposure to infectious substances/injurious radiation.

Should civil aircraft carry systems that would detect an incoming surface to air missile???

Of all the tragedies in a war, the most unfortunate is the loss of innocent lives. We see the human drama played out nightly in the conflicts between Russian separatists in the Ukraine, and elements of Hamas and the Israeli Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip, not to mention plenty of other places throughout the world. A certain degree of innocent suffering is expected for those who live in the area of the conflict, but rarely does it reach into the skies to affect those who have nothing to do with the war below.

M.B.B.S 3rd year practical exams in Forensic Medicine (Autopsy Instruments)

AUTOPSY INSTRUMENTS 

Autopsy instruments might be placed in spotting or may be given to you during viva & asked to identify that particular instrument and comment about its use during autopsy. You'll have to identify these instruments & know these few things regarding them.

M.B.B.S 3rd year practical exams in Forensic Medicine (Foetus)

FOETUS 

If foetus is given, you'll have to comment on the age of the given fetus

 and tell few points in support of your answer.

How to proceed for age determination of fetus?

M.B.B.S 3rd year practical exams in Forensic Medicine (Bones)

BONES

You will be given few bones (human). You'll have to identify the

bone & also comment on the sex of the bone and any other relevant

thing regarding that bone. Mention about the side of the

bone also in case of upper & lower limbs, whether it is left/right. 

Telling about ossification is a plus point. 

The Questions that might be asked are:

• Comment on the sex of the bone and give reasons to justify your statement?
• Identify the given bone and tell few points as how this bone can be used to estimate the age of the individual?

The bones generally given are:

M.B.B.S 3rd year practical exams in Forensic Medicine (X-rays)

X-RAY in viva/spotting

You might be given an X-Ray. The questions that are generally asked are: comment on the given X-ray or comment upon the age? You are expected to answer keeping the following points in mind::

•Which part of Body X-Rayed?

•Comment upon the age of the person?

•What are the medicolegal significance of that age?

•Any other specific finding ( like overlaying of skull)?

•Comment upon that particular finding with its medicolegal significance.

CT scans could support & strengthen forensic database to ID unidentified human remains

CT scans could support & strengthen forensic database to ID unidentified human remains

A study from North Carolina State University finds that data from CT scans can be incorporated into a growing forensic database to help determine the ancestry and sex of unidentified remains. The finding may also have clinical applications for craniofacial surgeons.

"As forensic anthropologists, we can map specific coordinates on a skull and use software that we developed -- called 3D-ID -- to compare those three-dimensional coordinates with a database of biological characteristics," says Dr. Ann Ross, a professor of anthropology at NC State and senior author of a paper describing the work. "That comparison can tell us the ancestry and sex of unidentified remains using only the skull -- which is particularly valuable when dealing with incomplete skeletal remains."

However, the size of the 3D-ID database has been limited by the researchers' access to contemporary skulls that have clearly recorded demographic histories.

To develop a more robust database, Ross and her team launched a study to determine whether it was possible to get good skull coordinate data from living people by examining CT scans.