Optimal Assignments of Allocating and Scheduling Emergency Resources to Accidents in Chemical Industrial Parks

Abstract

Accidents in chemical industrial parks can result in mass casualties and the risk usually escalates due to domino effects. However, most of the existing models of emergency logistics do not account for domino effect and may be unsuitable for emergency response to accidents in chemical industrial parks. This paper presents a mathematical model proposed for optimal assignments of allocating and scheduling emergency resources for rescuing victims and preventing accident spreading simultaneously. The detailed characteristics of accident scenarios and emergency resources are taken into account. Based on this, the efficiency of emergency response is evaluated by the total number of fatalities and the amount of losses caused by domino effects which are the optimal objectives of the model. A numerical case study was conducted by solving the model using a designed heuristic algorithm. The results showed the applicability and reliability of the proposed model for making optimal assignments for emergency response to accidents in chemical industrial parks.