Page 12 - Index

Compassionate Care in the 21st Century:

The Evolution of Aviation Disaster Family Assistance

By Dennis Post, Senior Manager Emergency Response, Southwest Airlines

(This article was adapted with per- he commercial system that is designed to pre- the excellent improvement in
mission from the author’s technical aviation industry, vent accidents when possible aviation safety, and the begin-
paper The Evolution of Aviation particularly in the and to investigate them if they nings of a virtual revolution of
Disaster Family Assistance: T United States, contin- do occur while caring for all family assistance accelerated
Compassionate Care in the 21st
Century presented during ISASI ues to experience one of the those involved. In the United by the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021, a virtual seminar hosted from safest periods in its history. States, aviation disaster family This paper will also explore
Vancouver, B.C., Canada, from Aug. From March 2009 to October assistance legislation has been the individual and collective
31–Sept. 2, 2021. The theme for the 2019, there were two fatali- in existence since 1996, called roles of air carrier emergency
seminar was “Staying Safe, Moving ties resulting from an aircraft for by family groups that had response teams, investigators,
Forward.” The full technical paper accident involving a Part 121 experienced considerable loss government agencies, and
is available on ISASI’s website, and those in government and vendors working to serve and
www.isasi.org, in the Library airline in the United States. industry who served them care for those affected by an
section under the Publications Any loss of life or injury to
and Governance/Technical Papers persons because of an aviation absent any documented legal aircraft accident.
tabs.—Editor) accident in the United States obligation.
or elsewhere in the world is a Since its passage, this legis- Why Family Assistance?
tragedy and requires assis- lation has experienced limited ISASI represents a collective
tance from the involved air change. Those responsible for group of the world’s finest
carrier. Much like the evolu- enacting this assistance have aviation safety professionals
tion of accident investigation since had full careers, many working together through
and the introduction of safety with the good fortune to never objective and transparent
management systems (SMSs), put into practice what they sharing of information to
the aviation disaster family planned for. The traveling pub- promote the development
assistance domain is also lic trusts commercial aviation, and improvement of incident
evolving, and must continue and with good reason; but and accident investigation.
to do so, to meet the needs of when an accident occurs, all Through its purpose and
those involved in aviation dis-
those affected by an aircraft design, ISASI and its members
accident. This evolution must aster family assistance hope to are guardians and servants to
answer “yes” to one question
continue to expand beyond without hesitation: “Are we those affected by an accident:
traditional family assistance prepared for this?” the survivors, families, and
legislation, processes, and In this paper, I propose communities. This work will
practices. to explore the changes in forever be intertwined and
The collective aviation in- family assistance brought on requires the same level of
dustry—regulators, operators, by the passage of time since dedication, selflessness, and
manufacturers, agencies, ven- legislation and guidance sense of duty.
dors, and employees—shares a documentation were writ-
common goal: to safely trans- ten and implemented in the
port passengers to the people United States, the challenge Tragedy and Change
and places that are important of decreasing institutional The 1990s
to them. The industry oper- and experiential knowledge of The process of assisting those
Dennis Post ates within a risk-based safety family assistance as a result of who have lost a loved one

12 • January-March 2022 ISASI Forum