Humanitarian Supply Management and Logistics in the Health Sector

Chapter 5
Key Characteristics
of Emergency Supplies
What Are Emergency Supplies?
Humanitarian or emergency supplies are those goods, materials,
and equipment used by organizations to provide relief in a disaster,
particularly those required to meet the essential needs of
the affected population. Such supplies cover an enormous spectrum,
from food, drugs, and clothing to rescue equipment, electric generators,
construction materials, and tools.
As noted earlier, these supplies come from many different places. Some
are procured or channeled by organizations in response to specific needs
on the ground; most, however, are the result of the spontaneous solidarity
of the national and international community.
From the point of view of their origin, then, supplies can be of two kinds:
1. Those requested or acquired by organizations based on their intervention
profiles—medical, economic, reconstructive—and on the
needs of the affected population. Regardless of their relevance, they
are generally managed by institutions that have asked for them, are
aware of the contents of the shipments, and can assign a specific
recipient for the aid.
2. Those supplies that are the result of the praiseworthy solidarity of
the rest of the country or the world, but which do not necessarily
meet the needs faced on the ground. They frequently do not have a
specified recipient, and their management is the responsibility of
national emergency authorities, who may have to start out by identifying
the goods, their characteristics and condition; the authorities
must also assign a use—if any—for the supplies, select the recipients,
and coordinate delivery.
Categories
Based on the experience of many humanitarian organizations around the
world and the thousands of emergencies they have faced, it is generally
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