Mass Fatality Management in Crisis and Wartime Conditions: Institutional Gaps in Civil Emergency Preparedness

ABSTRACT Mass fatality events represent one of the most challenging consequences of large‐scale crises and armed conflicts, yet they remain underexplored within crisis management and civil emergency preparedness research. While considerable attention is devoted to immediate life‐saving response and critical infrastructure protection, the management of the dead is frequently treated as a residual or technical matter rather than an integral component of crisis governance—with significant consequences for institutional legitimacy and the psychosocial wellbeing of bereaved families and communities. This article examines institutional preparedness for mass fatality management (MFM) through the lens of institutional crisis governance, with a particular focus on the governance, coordination, and capacity‐related challenges faced by public authorities and supporting organizations. Using a qualitative research design that integrates targeted document analysis with an expert nominal group technique and semi‐quantitative risk assessment, the study identifies key systemic gaps related to legal frameworks, inter‐organizational coordination, resource planning, and operational preparedness for high‐fatality events. The findings demonstrate that deficiencies in MFM in the Czech Republic do not constitute isolated operational gaps but form an interconnected systemic problem rooted in governance fragmentation, legislative constraints, and the structural exclusion of funeral services from core crisis planning frameworks. Funeral services and burial capacities emerge as critical yet insufficiently integrated elements of civil protection systems. The article further argues that neglecting this phase of crisis response undermines not only operational effectiveness but also societal resilience and the legitimacy of public crisis management. By conceptualizing MFM as a core component of institutional crisis governance, this study contributes to scholarship on crisis preparedness and governance and offers analytically grounded insights for policymakers and practitioners seeking to strengthen preparedness for extreme and complex crises. While the empirical base is grounded in the Czech national context, the identified patterns of governance fragmentation and planning deficit reflect structural characteristics observable across diverse civil protection systems.