Emergency resource allocation considering the heterogeneity of affected areas during the COVID-19 pandemic in China

The scientific allocation of emergency resources is crucial to ensure the success of COVID-19 relief operations. However, the heterogeneity of epidemic areas has an important impact on the allocation of emergency resources. Although it is a crucial topic, there has been limited research that considers the heterogeneity of affected areas in the emergency resource allocation. To bridge the gap, this study proposes a multi-period optimal allocation model of emergency resources considering the heterogeneity of affected areas, which aims to make the allocation of resources more equitable, efficient and economical. Then, a typical and representative case of emergency medical resource allocation in Hubei Province, China (where the epidemic occurred earlier and was seriously affected by COVID-19), was selected for a simulation study to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed model and method. The study finds that considering the heterogeneity such as disaster coefficient and demand urgency in different disaster stricken areas in emergency resource allocation can minimize the negative impact of resource shortfalls, especially in the early period of relief operations with insufficient resource supply. In addition, the proposed model can optimize multi-period emergency resource allocation by simultaneously considering time (efficiency criterion), cost (economic criterion), and loss(equity criterion), which is in line with the actual needs of emergency rescue to the COVID-19 epidemic. The results of this study can be effectively applied to the multi-period optimal allocation of emergency resources for large-scale public health emergencies, and providing insights for the government and relevant management departments to formulate emergency resource allocation policies and plans.