Personal identification by ID tagging — A disaster management tool

Natural disasters results in large scale destruction of infrastructure including communication and buildings. With the communication infrastructure failure, it is very difficult to identify people related to us and confirm their safety. In such contexts reliable real-time information is critical. The paper discusses a method for personal identification during disaster situations by ID tagging. The system will facilitate the identification of a person and his present status using an ID, creating a database and making it available for identification. This model proposes integration with the national ID registers of each of the countries for personal identification during disasters. The scope of this model is not just limited to identification, but also spans across to aspects of disaster relief. A conceptual case application of the proposed system to the floods in state of Uttarakhand in India in 2013 is also carried out. The large scale application of the system across countries will help in coping with post-disaster trauma in a better manner and also help fasten the disaster relief measures.