The shortage of funding, the challenging assessment of aid needs, and the lack of transportation systems for the rescue and care of victims represent major constraints to disaster response operations. In order to improve logistical performance in these conditions, including remote and large areas, this paper proposes a formal mathematical model to assist air transport planning, using helicopters, for large-scale disasters, considering multiple deposit systems, multiples vehicles and multiple products, implemented in AIMMS to evaluate its performance. To achieve the objectives, a literature review is conducted to understand the ways in which helicopters are used in aid operations and to identify key steps in decision making and modeling processes. In the end, a hypothetical scenario is created with similar characteristics from the records of earthquake response operations that hit Haiti in 2010 for consolidation and validation of the procedure.
In disasters, when affected areas are remote or difficult to access, or when other ways of transport are not available, helicopters become the most appropriate vehicles to reach the victims, specialy in cases of floods, landslides and earthquakes. However, the planning of air transport operations in the context of a disaster response is of great complexity, so that operational research has significant application and potential contribution to the area. In this context, we propose a procedure that aims to optimize the use of helicopters in response operations to small and medium-scale disasters. The proposed procedure seeks to minimize the total time of operation and the mobilization of air resources during the last mile delivery in relief operations. The proposed procedure is applied on a post-disaster scenario, taking as basis the real characteristics of the response operation to the floods, occurred in 2011, in the mountain region of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This paper highlights a methodological protocol for review and stratification of the journals for study and a proposal of this work with viable processes to aid decision-making in the process of distribution of the humanitarian supply chain using helicopters.
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