Nassau eyes procedures for disasters, mass fatalities

In the event of a calamity in Nassau County, what would you do with all the dead bodies? Temporary mass burials? Refrigerate the bodies and remains?

And what about procedures for temporary burial of Jews? Or Muslims? Or last rites for Catholics?

To address those and other issues, Nassau County plans to hire a consultant to develop a "mass fatality incident plan," as part of its overall preparedness for emergencies. County officials said right now Nassau is unprepared to handle any event with more than 250 deaths.

New York City has had a mass fatality management plan in place for several years, and Suffolk officials could not say if it had a similar program.

The cost of such plans in 15 general areas is covered by funds from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and at a meeting earlier this week, county legislators questioned why this area was singled out.

"If you have a lot of preparing to do, which do you do first?" Emergency Management Commissioner James Callahan asked. "This was one that a lot of people don't think about, so it was high on our list of priorities."

This would be the second preparedness study the county has conducted under DHS guidelines that would allow it to recover the $122,000 cost. Callahan said the county did a debris removal plan last year that was paid for with DHS funds.

Because the debris plan was certified by DHS, the county will be eligible for higher reimbursement if it ever carries out debris removal following a plane crash or a disaster.

The Rules Committee of the Nassau County Legislature approved the contract Monday with a New York City firm, Risk Solutions, but the presiding officer of the legislature voiced skepticism about whether it was necessary.

"I'm not trying to be funny. This is $122,000 to figure out how to dispose of dead bodies? . . . If this was county money, I'd be voting no," Legis. Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa) said.

But Callahan said the concern goes beyond disposing of dead bodies.

After the meeting, Callahan said it was necessary to plan ahead of time on how to cope with the deaths of Jews, whose religious tradition calls for a quick burial, or how to handle the Catholic sacrament of last rites.

"You need to look not just at who died, but look at the religious and healing aspects as well," he said.

He said he anticipated the consultant would provide specific advice on subjects like which sites would be suitable for temporary burials, and whether the county should rent refrigerated facilities or refrigerated trucks.

If you have 250 deaths in a plane crash, refrigeration trucks might be considered. But, "5,000 deaths, you're not going to use trucks."