Article ID: | iaor20122081 |
Volume: | 219 |
Issue: | 2 |
Start Page Number: | 415 |
End Page Number: | 424 |
Publication Date: | Jun 2012 |
Journal: | European Journal of Operational Research |
Authors: | Berman Oded, Gavious Arieh, Menezes Mozart B C |
Keywords: | transportation: air, simulation: applications, combinatorial optimization, scheduling, allocation: resources, biology |
We consider a potential bioterror attack on an airport. After the attack is identified, the government is faced with the problem of how to allocate limited emergency resources (human resources, vaccines, etc.) efficiently. The government is assumed to make a one‐time resource allocation decision. The optimal allocation problem is discussed and it is shown how available information on the number of infected passengers can be incorporated into the model. Estimation for parameters of the cost function (number of deaths after the epidemic is over) is provided based on known epidemic models. The models proposed in the paper are demonstrated with a case study using real airport data.