Whether you're doing DIY or not, please check for available guidelines or regulations wrt safety in case of a fire. The fire fighters need to be able to spray your house with water without getting electrocuted. This is becoming an increasing problem where I live.
I'm not saying "there's no need to do it", more if you're in a panel and you haven't checked for dead then when people are standing in the dock explaining to a judge why you ended up crispy they'll be saying its your own fault.
Completely agree, recent NEC requires rapid disconnects on each panel that go down to a safe voltage per panel if the heartbeat isn't received (ie disconnect is thrown). This drops the strong voltage to safe levels.