News/Articles

IDAHO FORENSIC DENTIST AIDS IN KATRINA AFTERMATH

Dr. Glen Smith has been an AGD member since 1979, and a fellow since 1985. After 13 years in the Army he moved to Boise . In addition to practicing orthodontics, he is a deputy coroner for Ada County , and provides that office forensic odontology support. In 1999 he joined the federal Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) to lend his forensic expertise to assist in national disasters.

DMORT is a component of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS), which is a section of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's FEMA. The typical Team is made up of professionals (doctors, dentists, forensic scientists, police officers, medical examiners, funeral home directors, medical investigators and other technical specialists) from all across America who volunteer to make themselves available to assist the nation in the event of a mass fatality incident that overwhelms local and state resources.

A temporary morgue was set up soon after Hurricane Katrina in the Iberville Parish community of St. Gabriel. Identifying hurricane victims is just one part of DMORT's job. The other is helping recover and identify human remains washed out of cemeteries by hurricanes Katrina or Rita. Storm surges from the two hurricanes disinterred about 1,300 sets of remains.

Glen spent two weeks at the St. Gabriel facility this past fall. His duties included postmortem dental processing of remains, recovering antemortem dental evidence from records that had spent time submerged in flood waters, and computerized comparison operations that are used to make tentative dental identifications of the hurricane victims. The work was generally 12-16 hours a day, seven days a week. The work was physically, mentally and emotionally demanding. This was his first exposure to such a large scale disaster, and felt that he learned a lot from working with forensic specialists from around the country. Some of the professionals working there were from the Northwest, and he was pleasantly surprised that he was able to work with his forensic colleague, Dr. Lee Coppess, from North Idaho 's Hayden Lake for a few days. He is grateful for the opportunity he had to help the families who lost loved ones in the disaster, and to work and learn along side so many dedicated and caring individuals.

 

January 11, 2006

Obtaining Mastership in a Small State, or Am I Truly Obsessed?

By Guy Hanson

Earning enough credits to obtain Mastership is a tough chore in a small state that has no dental school and little participation CE. I started on my journey when Bruce Burton challenged me to get in my CE while he led the AGD. The AGD now makes it easy to track the hours needed in each category, so I made the AGD transcript page a bookmark in my browser. I checked my progress quite often to make corrections and additions to my transcript.

I then became a CE junkie. I took almost every participation course that I could find west of Chicago. I was also fortunate to be in a position to help bring courses to Idaho and made sure that I attended them. Often the courses were in areas of dentistry that I had referred out, but my new education taught me to incorporate them back in to my practice. The new procedures helped pay for my seemingly countless flights and nights away from home.

After an intense 1½ year quest, I got in my final necessary CE credits in October, with a final blast of 75 hours. I spent more time in the air than treating patients, or so it seems. Now, I'm waiting for approval of my transcript by the Council so I can go through the Convocation in Denver.

It's not easy to get in the participation CE in Idaho, but it is possible if you are willing to expand your mind and travel. My primary regret is that I did not spend more time in the various disciplines earlier in y career. The CE is out there, you just have to be aware of the areas you still need and work efficiently toward your goal. I believe that you need to have the goal of Mastership in mind when selecting CE if you are to ever accumulate the proper amount of hours for Mastership. Bernie and Val were great in helping me find those hours.

Time and perseverance will lead to Mastership for anyone who wants to obtain it. So, take the plunge and GO FOR IT!