Challenges of emergency logistics management

Abstract

The author notes that emergency logistics management has emerged as a worldwide-noticeable theme for both artificial and natural (e.g., earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes) disasters. He categorizes the challenges of emergency management logistics into four distinct areas. These include: 1) defining emergency logistics. Unlike business logistics, which allow for an efficient flow of goods and services from manufacturer/retailer to consumer, emergency management logistics involves the efficient flow of relief services and information from the point of origin (i.e., relief distribution centers) to a destination point near affected areas where people are living under emergency conditions; 2) an inability to control the timeliness of relief supply distribution. The author particularly notes the critical 3-day period following a disaster, when in bound logistics (i.e., supplies to relief distribution centers) and outbound logistics (i.e., supplies from distribution centers to affected areas) face the greatest challenges from operational problems; 3) challenges involved in providing resource management for emergency logistics. This notes the operational uncertainties (i.e., controlling the inventory of supplies ready for transport) and communications challenges found in emergency situations; 4) the demand for nearly inaccessible, yet crucial, real-time relief data. The author notes that information provided by on-the-spot rescuers and reporters may not be as accurate as needed, due to the limited availability of information immediately following a disaster and the decentralized distribution of that information. The author adds that the uniqueness of emergency logistics point to an urgent need for more research, especially as the operational scope of emergency logistics expands beyond the domestic to include international concerns.