A bi-objective natural disaster blood supply chain network considering blood transfusion: A case study in Babol

Abstract

Mismanagement of the blood supply chain is one of the reasons that intensifies the crisis during natural disasters. In this paper, a multi-echelon blood supply chain consisted of donors, portable blood facilities, blood transfusion centers, hospitals, and blood receivers, is considered. The fact that in addition to hospitals that help injured people, childbearing medical centers also have significant demand for blood is also considered in the proposed model. In case of a disaster, roads or medical centers may be devastated by incidents such as earthquakes and floods. The presented model is shown to be capable of proposing alternative routes and medical centers. Since blood is highly perishable, considering the time needed for processing the received blood and minimizing the amount of wasted blood are critical. The model consists of two objective functions: the first considers the economic dimensions of the supply chain and the second focuses on minimizing the blood transfusion time from portable facilities to the hospitals. The proposed bi-objective model is solved using the lexicographic method. The results obtained from a case study in Babol show the applicability of the model and provides some managerial insights to the problem.