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• December 30, 2005

  Licensing Requirements Reinstated for Out-of-State Medical Professionals

  Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco issued Executive Order 2005-33 to allow out-of-state doctors and other licensed medical professionals to provide emergency services to patients. The Executive Order was renewed several times and is now set to expire on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2005. In anticipation of this expiration date, the Department of Health and Hospitals worked with various professional boards to develop an expedited process for a temporary “permission to practice.”

• December 30, 2005

  Identification of Katrina Victims Continues

  Using dental records, fingerprints and medical records while working with families to discover unique characteristics and analyzing personal effects, forensic experts at the Victim Identification Center in Carville, Louisiana continue to discover the identities of Louisiana citizens who died during Hurricane Katrina. In addition, officials with the Louisiana State Police and the Victim Identification Center in Carville learned today of the first DNA match and subsequent identification since special DNA contracts were signed in December.

• December 29, 2005

  Call Center Continues to Locate Missing Storm Victims

  At the Find Family National Call Center in Baton Rouge, the steady hum of office work is interrupted almost five times every hour by the ringing of a bell. This bell signifies that a person who had been reported missing following Hurricane Katrina has been found alive.

• December 29, 2005

  Commission with DNA Expertise from Conflicts in the Former Yugoslavia Helping to Identify Katrina Victims

  Please click here to see the press release the International Commission on Missing Persons released on its work to identify Katrina victims.

• December 22, 2005

  Southwest Louisiana Oyster Harvesting Area Expanded

  The Department of Health and Hospitals announces the expansion of oyster harvesting in the Lower Calcasieu Lake Conditional Management Area, effective Dec. 26, 2005.

• December 21, 2005

  Deceased Katrina Victims Released 12-21-2005

  Recovered Bodies – At this time, state officials, working in conjunction with coroners from local parishes, have recovered 1,096 bodies. This is an increase from 1,095 recovered bodies reported on Dec. 16, 2005.

• December 20, 2005

  NEWS ADVISORY: FEMA Assisting Louisiana Parishes with Disinterred Remains

  Please click here to see the news advisory for FEMA's press event on assisting the state with identifying disinterred remains after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

• December 16, 2005

  Deceased Katrina Victims Released to Families 12-16-2005

  Recovered Bodies – At this time, state officials, working in conjunction with coroners from local parishes, have recovered 1,095 bodies. This is an increase from 1,094 recovered bodies reported on Dec. 13, 2005.

• December 14, 2005

  Health Department Launches Web Site to Assist Families of Hurricane Victims

  The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals has launched “Katrina Missing,” a Web site to aid families of people who are missing or presumed deceased following Hurricane Katrina.

• December 13, 2005

  Deceased Katrina Victims Released to Families 12-13-2005

  Recovered Bodies – At this time, state officials, working in conjunction with coroners from local parishes, have recovered 1,094 bodies. This is a decrease from the 1,098 recovered bodies reported on Dec. 9, 2005. The number decreased because some bodies at the Victim Identification Center in Carville were inadvertently counted twice in the DMORT database, which altered last week’s count.

• December 09, 2005

  Deceased Katrina Victims Released to Families 12-9-2005

  Recovered Bodies – At this time, state officials, working in conjunction with coroners from local parishes, have recovered 1,098 bodies. This is an increase from 1,090 recovered bodies reported on Dec. 1, 2005.

• December 09, 2005

  State Police, Department of Health Complete DNA Contracts, Select Vendors

  Please click here to read the press release Louisiana State Police distributed announcing the vendors for the DNA contract.