The logistical challenges of humanitarian medical emergency action, especially war surgery in conflict area

Humanitarian assistance, which is not to be confused with development aid, is based on four important principles, which are humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence. These values are shared by all humanitarian organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) for example. Both organizations are completely different in terms of intervention strategies but their final aim is common: to save human beings and alleviate suffering. Humanitarian logistics or the emergency supply chain is composed of the same steps as classical logistics, which are purchase, transportation, storage and distribution. However, these phases might differ due to their high complexity, the high number of actors involved or the smaller response time requirement. Moreover, humanitarian logistics need to be adapted according to the type of disaster. An armed conflict situation for example consists of sudden or slow man-made disasters, which require humanitarian workers to overcome many challenges. For instance, during the preparation phases (before the disaster); the lack of information, bureaucratic delays or the make / buy dilemma need to be analyzed and successfully overcome. Concerning medicine in conflict zones, both humanitarian organizations are present in emergency surgeries and need to find innovative and efficient ways of working. In order to fulfill the quality criterions fixed for surgery MSF has for instance created chirurgical units, which can be deployed within hours. The example of Syria is a good one as it is considered by many humanitarian actors as the worst crisis ever to resolve and to intervene in. One of the main difficulties of working in Syria is the security issue of the workers and civilians. These challenges force humanitarian organizations to assess their activities and therefore, to better themselves. In fact, learning from past mistakes and being able to self-assess is the only sustainable way of continuing to offer answers, which will efficiently fulfill needs. One solution to better humanitarian responses could be modeling. However, models contain pros and cons. It is very efficient in terms of reducing the response time with standardized e-preparation but models can be inflexible and require regular updates and improvements. Post-mortem analysis is also very important to assess the strengths and weaknesses of an intervention. This investigation helps identify changes, which need to be done

Aproximación al Estado de Investigación en Logística Humanitaria: Un enfoque Bibliométrico

El presente proyecto, pretende el desarrollo de un estudio bibliométrico que permita identificar las bases conceptuales y las contribuciones relevantes en una de las áreas emergentes de la logística: La logística humanitaria. El proyecto seleccionará las principales publicaciones disponibles en Academic Search Complete, Emerald, Science Direct, y en las herramientas bibliográficas Scopus e ISI Web of Science con el acceso que ofrece la licencia de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, para posteriormente, aplicar los principios de la bibliometría identificando las principales tendencias de investigación en el objeto de estudio seleccionado, utilizando indicadores y herramientas estadísticas descriptivas y mediciones de co-citación, detallando el contenido conceptual de cada artículo y estableciendo el estado de obsolescencia de la literatura disponible. Por último, la presente investigación realizará una discusión de los hallazgos de revisiones bibliográficas previas, frente a los resultados obtenidos en el desarrollo del presente estudio, de manera que se puedan identificar futuras líneas de investigación, orientadas hacia el desarrollo conceptual y solución de los retos que impone en la actualidad la logística humanitariaAbstract : The aim of this project is to develop a bibliometrics study that will be able to identify the conceptual bases and main contribution in one of the emerging areas of research in logistics known as Humanitarian logistics. This research paper will select the main publications in the databases available: Academic Search Complete, Emerald and Science Direct and other bibliographic tools as Scopus and ISI web of Science, by using the available access for the members of the National University of Colombia. Then applying the bibliometric principles, in order to bring out the main research trends of Humanitarian Logistics, using indicators and descriptive statistics tools and co-citation measurements, detailing the conceptual content of each publication and establishing the obsolescence level of the available literature. Finally, this research will propose a discussion regarding the findings of previous bibliographic reviews, compared to the results of the present study, in that manner that might help identify future research lines. These lines should be directed to the conceptual development and solution of the challenges that nowadays the humanitarian logistics facesMaestrí