Points to Ponder: The "Right" Emergency Aid
* Should Israel supply humanitarian aid specialists to countries thousands
of kilometers away?
* Has Israel learned to plan assistance granted according to need,
or according to its own needs?
* Does Israel's rapid response of assistance to problems in less-developed
countries sometimes appear overwhelming, or is it there a difference
in how these countries accept Israeli aid?
Below is an article that appeared in the Haaretz newspaper for the
purpose of discussion about such issues as it raises - and those it
may have overlooked. It is reproduced with permission.
It expresses the views of the author alone and not those
of the Jewish Agency for Israel, or anyone connected with it, nor of
Haaretz newspaper, nor any other organization mentioned in this feature.
Look before you help
By Yoel Donchin
Thu., January 06, 2005 Tevet 25, 5765
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/523574.html
Sometimes it seems that the State of Israel behaves just like the
loyal Boy Scout who insists on helping a little old lady cross the
street against her will. Preparations to send a rescue team to the
site of a natural disaster in any location begin only hours after
the disaster is announced. As a result, the Israeli mission is often
the first to arrive at the scene of such a crisis, and is quick to
foist its national flag as close as possible to victims, and the cameras
of international television networks. Sometimes it seems that the
desire to get pictures overtakes the desire to lend a helping hand.
In fact, Israeli medical personnel and rescue experts are highly
experienced in responding to the tragedies of others. This was ironically
highlighted by the case of a rescue team member who assisted in various
disasters, from the Armenian earthquake to the rescue of hotel guests
in Mombasa, Kenya, who was wounded in a terrorist attack.
Lessons learned in previous missions indicate that when there is
a natural disaster, or an act of force which removes thousands of
people from their homes, as in Kosovo, international assistance benefits
survivors only if it meets the particular needs of the area in question.
Assistance must be given with the collaboration of a variety of operative
bodies.
The basic needs of a population exposed to a crisis of major proportion
include all the elements necessary to preserve life: food, water,
and infant formula for babies and toddlers. In places where water
sources are polluted, there is an urgent need for a water purification
system, and the means to distribute water. In locations with minimal
sanitary conditions, provision of chemical toilets and other means
of sanitation is a must. Later on there is a need to provide shelter
from sun and cold, and immunizations to prevent epidemic disease.
Obviously, there is also a need for appropriate handling of the many
corpses left at the disaster site - the bodies of both people and
animals. After providing for these primary needs, roads must be opened
to gain access to affected areas in order to assure that the population
receives ongoing supplies.
Before putting complex assistance systems into place, it is worth
conducting a complete investigation of the current situation in the
affected area. The sooner that engineers, geographers, and medical
experts in the field of disaster relief arrive at the scene, the shorter
the lag will be between the event and assistance. A "field hospital"
must be established in the affected area while the initial team begins
its operations. However, a field hospital of this type, staffed by
doctors, nurses, and maintenance personnel, typically serves a relatively
small number of victims.
The Foreign Ministry has already implemented lessons that it learned
from previous crises. Individuals with relief expertise are joined
by ministry workers with special knowledge of the affected area, and
workers whose previous residence in an affected foreign nation permits
them freedom of movement. These workers are equipped with communication
systems, and extraordinary logistic support at home.
In the current disaster in Southeast Asia, with proportions beyond
any we have known to date, the need for a field hospital is exceeded
by the need for field toilets. The need for heavy equipment to dig
mass graves overtakes the need for doctors and nurses. A country truly
committed to providing humanitarian assistance, and undistracted by
a desire to upgrade its media image, must send elements of assistance
that victims need - not elements which the country is interested in
providing.
- Should Israel enlist itself and tremendous resources in order
to arrive in locations that are thousands of kilometers away (if
one forgets budget limitations for a moment)?
- Is assistance granted according to need, or according to what
Israel wants to provide?
If Israel considers humanitarian aid to be part of its national character,
and if there is an added benefit from the presence of Israeli representatives
in these places, it is worth planning such actions first. There is
a need to establish a staff of experts in handling disasters with
multiple victims. A decision to send aid should follow an investigation
of the type of needed, and the feasibility of providing it.
It is very possible that direct financial assistance, within Israel's
means, is preferable to the enormous cost of maintaining a complex
medical staff in field conditions. Preparations for a complex mission,
such as sending a relief team to a stricken area, are ineffective
when time is at a premium. Perhaps we should already be preparing
for the next disaster.
The writer is an anesthesiologist at Hadassah hospital.