Citation

Iserson KV. West. J. Emerg. Med. 2014; 15(2): 231-240.

Affiliation

University of Arizona, Department of Emergency Medicine, Tuscon, Arizona.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, California Chapter of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine)

DOI

10.5811/westjem.2013.12.20125

PMID

24672618

PMCID

PMC3966462

Abstract

"Humanitarian catastrophes," conflicts and calamities generating both widespread human suffering and destructive events, require a wide range of emergency resources. This paper answers a number of questions that humanitarian catastrophes generate: Why and how do the most-developed countries-those with the resources, capabilities, and willingness to help-intervene in specific types of disasters? What ethical and legal guidelines shape our interventions? How well do we achieve our goals? It then suggests a number of changes to improve humanitarian responses, including better NGO-government cooperation, increased research on the best disaster response methods, clarification of the criteria and roles for humanitarian (military) interventions, and development of post-2015 Millennium Development Goals with more accurate progress measures.

Language: en