trailer world issue One 2010

Commercial logistics organisations helped to rapidly transport emergency personnel to the incident site.

6 Issue One 2010 When Chris Weeks from Britain speaks of his time in Haiti, he never starts with the piles of rubble, the bodies found lying in the middle of the road or the loot- ers letting off fire arms in the destroyed city centre of Port-au-Prince. Instead, DHL‘s Head of Humanitarian Aid says: “It was dif- ficult to get any sleep because of the noise made by aircraft landing constantly at the airport. Weeks had erected his two-man tent right next to the only runway at Port-au-Prince airport, for reasons of security because in this location, the provisional camp set up by the international relief workers and helpers was under the protection of the US military. During the day, Weeks and his staff worked in a frenzy to establish a logistics aid system. “Normally only 10 planes land at Port-au- Prince airport every day. All of a sudden there were more than 160 a day. You soon come up against your limits when trying to organise this kind of situation.” Disasters are logistical challenges where human life is at stake. If the first aid fails to reach the victims within 72 hours, any further delay can cost life. At the same time, most nor- mal transport routes are destroyed. In Haiti, the earthquake that measured 7.0 on the Rich- ter scale had demolished cranes in the har- bour of Port-au-Prince; it had flooded quays, broken up the roads, caused landslides and destroyed bridges. The telephone and internet network had broken down completely. Once the total of US$ 1.5 billion in aid donated by the international community began to flow, the supplies could only be brought in by air; and with only one functional runway, the air- port soon became the eye of the needle. Even an airplane from Médecins sans frontiers with a mobile hospital on board was unable to land and had to divert to Santo Domingo in the neighbouring Dominican Republic. This kind of bottleneck situation is typical for major “CNN disasters”, which is what the humanitarian sector calls disasters with mas- sive media presence and similar-scale aid do- nations. Humanitarian logistics is hampered above all be uncoordinated donations made in kind by private individuals, small organi- sations and friendly countries. The so-called rapid response phase is particularly tricky: this refers to the first two weeks during which the supply chain and infrastructure still has to get established on site and where every minute counts. Long queues waiting at the aid organisa- tions‘ trucks. Shortly after the earthquake in Haiti, they were responsible for food supplies to the whole of the population. Title Logistics professionals on behalf of mankind They are the specialists that bring disaster relief workers and their equipment quickly to the scene. In trouble spots too, logistics companies such as DHL, Kühne+Nagel or TNT work as partners for the relief organisations, maintaining order and keeping things moving under chaotic circumstances. But their work never becomes a matter of routine. Challenge of a “CNN disaster”. Photo:picturealliance

trailer world issue One 2010

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