ABSTRACT
National health workers in countries suffering natural or man-made crisis often continue to work despite situations of grave danger and uncertainty for themselves and for their families. The author's staff were nationals, old hands, they knew who to trust and how to deal with situations, but when it came down to it, we didn't have enough staff capacity on the ground to mean that they could always be available. Local health workers are at no less risk. Like those delivering other forms of aid, health workers are at risk because they move in situations where humans are desperate, where the care they can offer is often limited, and the rationale they work by because of this can be misunderstood. A WHO occupational health physician puts it this way: Health workers going into complex emergencies face almost the same risk as army personnel, but we don't prepare ourselves like armies.
