Integrated operations for natural disaster management: A systematic Review

Background: This study aimed to conduct a systematic review of models describing the integrated logistics operations performed as a response to natural disasters, with the hope to identify the challenges and limitations of healthcare systems in natural disaster management.

Methods: A systematic literature search was carried out in PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Google Scholar, and bibliographies of retrieved articles using MeSH headings and keywords such as natural disaster, logistics, model. A total of 98 publications were identified through the search process. Seven potentially relevant articles met the inclusion criteria. The key demographic, clinical, and pathological information of all qualified studies were extracted from the full-text articles.

Results: Among the seven included studies, six had either model data or considerations on distribution methods. Storage, human resources, infrastructures, primary priority items, coordination of organizations, and information and communication with the media were also the focus of studies. The articles were mainly from Iran (n=2), the United States (n=2), and Indonesia (n=2). The models presented in the studies has mainly focused on a specific aspect of disaster management, such as smart government development, use of military services, people with logistic training and/or medical team model.

Conclusion: This study systematically highlighted the crucial points that should be considered in managing natural disasters including human resources, infrastructure, storage, priority items, distribution, access system, coordination of organizations, information, and communication with the media. In this regard, we prepared a comprehensive comparison of possible models and logistics.