Title: Localisation of first-aid centres in South-Eastern Mexico

Authors: Eduardo-Arturo Garzón-Garnica; José-Luis Martínez-Flores; Diana-Patricia Cruz-Benítez; Santiago-Omar Caballero-Morales

Addresses: Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, 21 Sur 1103, Puebla, Puebla 72410, México ' Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, 21 Sur 1103, Puebla, Puebla 72410, México ' Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, 21 Sur 1103, Puebla, Puebla 72410, México ' Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, 21 Sur 1103, Puebla, Puebla 72410, México

Abstract: Every year Mexico is subject to hydro-meteorological factors that cause disasters. Usually, these disasters disrupt the supply chain for emergency services and delivery of daily supplies. Currently, only 21% of high risk zones have an established emergency plan. This paper is focused on establishing the basis for the eventual implementation of a rapid response network for these disasters. A quickly-deployed air bridge is proposed to assist the affected population and increase resilience against disaster situations. The number of centres and locations were considered as decision variables. The use of vertical and/or short take-off and landing (VSTOL) vehicles was considered to establish an efficient air bridge to the affected areas from the first-aid centres. The location problem of the centres was solved using a multi-source weighted Weber model with distance restrictions for flight coverage. The network could support the development of more efficient emergency plans for the considered regions.

Keywords: humanitarian logistics; air support; rapid response networks; flooding; supply chain resilience; Mexico; humanitarian aid; multi-source Weber problem; localisation; first-aid centres; disaster relief; humanitarian relief; emergency relief; supply chain disruption; supply chain management; SCM; air bridge; VSTOL aircraft; emergency management; emergency planning; floods.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSCOR.2016.078185

International Journal of Supply Chain and Operations Resilience, 2016 Vol.2 No.2, pp.166 - 180

Received: 26 Oct 2015
Accepted: 25 Feb 2016

Published online: 07 Aug 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article