Chapter 5: The Rockets’ Red Glare, Bodies Bursting in Air: Dealing with a Mass Disaster

This chapter outlines a mass casualty caused by an illegal fireworks factory. This resulted in charred bodies thrown across a field. DNA testing was not yet invented, so Dr. Bass had to identify the bodies based off the body parts found at the scene and using missing people reports. He said the first step before attempting to identify the victim is to answer four key questions: 1) What is the race? 2) What is the sex? 3) What is the stature? 4) What is the age?

Dr. Bass also describes how grim his life can be, and at times, telling jokes is the only way to survive.