A joint analysis method for capability and demand of post-earthquake medical rescue in a city. (1st October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xu, Zhen; Wu, Yingying; Hao, Xintian; Li, Nan; Fang, Dongping
• Is Part Of: International journal of disaster risk reduction. Volume 80(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-10-01
• Subjects: Post-earthquake medical rescue -- Capability -- Demand -- Route planning -- Discrete event simulation -- Population heat map; Emergency management -- Periodicals; Risk management -- Periodicals; Disaster relief -- Periodicals; Hazard mitigation -- Periodicals; 363.34
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.103249
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2212-4209

Abstract

Abstract: To reduce earthquake-induced casualties, it is essential to analyze the capability and demand of post-earthquake medical rescue in a city. This study proposes a joint method for such analysis. First, a casualty analysis solution using a population heat map was created to determine the demand for post-earthquake medical rescue. Subsequently, a route planning algorithm, considering the impact of collapsed buildings, was designed to quickly match the hospital with injured people and transport them to the hospital. Finally, a discrete event simulation (DES) model of hospitals was built to calculate temporal variations in medical rescue capability, based on the matched injured people and their travel time, and a real case of a hospital in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake was used to validate the DES model. Using the proposed method, the post-earthquake rescue demand of a small city in China and the rescue capability of a hospital in this city were analyzed. The results indicate that the hospital is unable to meet the rescue demand within 72 h after the earthquake. The outcome of this study can evaluate the capability and demand for post-earthquake medical rescue in a city, which helps reveal bottlenecks in the process of medical rescue and thus reduce casualties.