Medical relief mission to Bosnia/Hercegovina: a case report

World attention has been focused on Bosnia/Hercegovina, where war erupted in 1992. The regional hospital of Mostar, an industrial city with a population of 100,000, operated with chronic shortages of medical supplies including general anesthetic agents. In February 1992, just prior to the referendum for independence in that republic, a shipment of medical supplies with anesthesics, food, and clothing was delivered safely to Ljubuski, a village near Mostar, for Mostar hospital and surrounding clinics by a small, private organization from Birmingham, Alabama. No difficulties were encountered in delivering the supplies despite warnings from the U.S. State Department, the lengthy transit from Austria through Croatia to Bosnia, an active black market, and the inexperience of the relief agency. This disaster relief effort by a small, private sponsor was representative of both the positive aspects of such a project, as well as typical negative aspects. These efforts had been discouraged in the past, but as disaster medicine matures, there may be room for such endeavors, if properly directed.