An analysis of the supply chain in emergency management

Emergency Management deals with manmade and natural disasters and tries to avoid, control, manage, and eliminate their inherent losses as far as possible. One of the widely known and accepted of the four phases within emergency management is the response phase, which includes the Supply Chain for aid supplies like medicinal products, food and water, material for immediate aid etc. Supply Chain Management in the case of a disaster is different from industry related Supply Chains due to the planning horizon and the circumstances. Critical questions that beg to be asked are what can engineering managers in local, state and federal government entities learn from industry with respect to emergency management supply chains? And, are there critical guidelines and best practices for Emergency Supply Chain Management (ESCM)? This analysis shows the models and theories in Emergency Supply Chain Management that are practiced and accepted at present; furthermore it demonstrates the limitations and problems currently facing engineering managers. Copyright, American Society for Engineering Management, 2014.