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This article discusses several disasters that resulted in major loss of human life in the US; it examines the similarities and differences between them, and how they've evolved through the years. The first disaster that was discussed was the burning of the US Capitol Building in 1814. The article then moves on to discuss the Hague Street boiler explosion and building collapse in New York in 1850, the Iroquois Theater FIre in Chicago in 1903, and finally, the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. This article points out that in the first two investigations, there was a lot of finger pointing that took place when the government (both federal and local) and private individuals investigated the aftermath. Moving into investigating the more recent two incidents, individuals and organizations may have finger-pointed, but they also conducted thorough investigations that resulted in recommendations for change to save life and property in the future.

Dider Fassin is a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in New Jersey. As a physician, he is an expert in internal medicine and public health. He also has studied mortality disparities and is said to have developed the field of critical moral anthropology. Dr. Fassin doesn't appear to be professionally situated with respect to emergency response. He currently studies "punishment, asylum, inequality, and the politics of life," all of which are abstracted greatly from emergency response. He has published a book entitled The Empire of Trauma: An Inquiry Into the Condition of Victimhood, which may be of interest of the DSTS Network.