History of the International Mass Fatalities Center

The International Mass Fatalities Center has matured from a simple request to a national dream to an international reality.

A simple request in 1995 by Ned Wright of Linn County Emergency Management to Peter Teahen began a process culminating in a five-year research, development and writing project entitled, Mass Fatalities Incident Response Plan.

The Plan, recognized as the most comprehensive mass fatalities plan available to communities was designed to be functional, expandable, comprehensive and most of all "user" friendly.

Peter Teahen stated, " When I started putting ideas together I never imagined it would take five years and result in a document that has been proven to be so useful to communities."

Upon the completion of the manual in 1999 , it was determined that the manual could be a great resource to communities throughout the country and Federal funding was sought to establish a national training program for the studies of mass fatalities response and support.

The initial concept of an Institute connected with a community college has now developed into an independent, non-profit educational training center known as the International Mass Fatalities Center.

The instructors of the International Mass Fatalities Center have trained communities throughout the country in a variety of formats ranging from one day to five-day interactive training programs and live Internet programs. The instructors, experienced in mass fatalities response, continue the tradition of quality hands on training and real life solutions.