28 April 2020

Research pick: Blood supply security in a disaster - "Blood supply chain risks in disasters – a fault tree analysis approach"

When natural or other disaster strikes there is usually an enormous increase in demand for donated blood and blood products for those who have suffered serious injury. Writing in the International Journal of Modelling in Operations Management, a team from Iran has taken a fault-tree analysis approach to understanding risks to the chain of blood supply.

The study involves the design of a process map that shows the workflow of the blood supply chain visually from donation to distribution. This, then allows the team to look at the risks associated with each step and activity from donor to hospital. The researchers can then pluck out each significant risk and work out a probability of supply chain failure and so identify the most vulnerable parts of the process.

The blood supply chain has four main processes: blood collection, product processing, laboratory testing, and storage and distribution of blood products.

The team’s work could help eliminate certain serious risks while other risks might be mitigated rather than precluded and the process still function. “Proper planning and accurate prediction of the amount of required equipment at the time of disaster would decrease this risk and can control its impact on the blood supply chain,” the team adds. Ultimately, the risk will depend on the exact nature of the disaster in hand. But, anything that can be done to reduce the overall impact on human lives is welcome.

Abtahi, A-R., Zenouz, R.Y., Ghaderian, M-R. and Aghaie, A. (2019) ‘Blood supply chain risks in disasters – a fault tree analysis approach’, Int. J. Modelling in Operations Management, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp.269-283.

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