Humanitarian Supply Management and Logistics in the Health Sector

Chapter 4: Coordination 27
ucts from abroad causes more difficulties than benefits, from the
health and logistical point of view;
◆ Medical and paramedical personnel: Generally, national health services
can cope with the need for medical care during an emergency.
Should additional human resources be needed, it is always better for
them to come from another part of the country than from abroad;
◆ Other specialized personnel: Generally, national relief organizations
have enough staff to meet the basic requirements of an emergency.
Any need for specialized assistance should be handled directly
through the relevant organizations, to prevent a rush of unneeded
"experts";
◆ Field hospitals: These are not recommended; by the time they have
been set up and are ready to operate, local health services and facilities
will probably have been restored;
◆ Medical equipment, new or old: Medical equipment is rarely needed
or, if necessary, it is generally highly specific, to be dealt with by
asking specialized organizations, not by broadcasting a general
appeal;
◆ Tents: New trends in disaster response discourage their use. Should
they be needed, it is always better to exhaust the possibilities of
local procurement, preventing the technical difficulties and cost of
having them sent in from abroad.
It should be stressed that in very specific cases it might be necessary to
request some material or aid of the kind listed above. However, these
cases should be addressed by asking a specialized institution and providing
all the specifications of the supplies needed. Such items should
not be included in lists used for general appeals.
The best approach is to ask the national and international community
only for those supplies and assistance that will be unquestionably useful
as determined by an assessment of real needs.
Whenever possible, cash donations are preferable since they can be used
to purchase supplies and services locally, saving the time and resources
required for shipping and storing supplies.