A multi-objective stochastic programming model for post-disaster management

Abstract

This paper develops a mathematical model for post-disaster planning with human casualties, which can be considered as operational guidance for the proper use of emergency resources. For this purpose, a stochastic mixed-integer programming model is provided to formulate the problem. The objective functions of the model are (1) maximizing the survival probability of patients, (2) minimizing the maximum of completion time of treatment of all patients, and (3) minimizing the total cost of operations. The model is solved with the ϵ-constraint method. Due to the NP-hardness of the problem which is a significant challenge in the literature, two innovative meta-heuristic algorithms are proposed, i.e. a non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) and a multi-objective simulated annealing (MOSA). Finally, a comprehensive computational analysis is performed for evaluation purposes. Also, a case study is made on the earthquake in Iran, which illustrates the real-world application of the model.

Highlights

• A stochastic multi-objective mathematical programming model to allocate patients to hospitals and treat them.

• NSGA-II and MOSA are proposed, in addition to ϵ-constraint method as solution methods.

• Performance of two meta-heuristic algorithms is measured with five evaluation metrics.

• The study showed that NSGA-II is more effective than MOSA.

• The model was implemented on a real-world case, Tabriz earthquake in Iran.

KEYWORDS:

• Emergency medical services
• multi-objective
• stochastic programming
• ϵ-constraint method
• multi-objective simulated annealing
• non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).