A location model for storage of emergency supplies to respond to technological accidents in Bogota´

The Prevention and Attention of Emergencies Fund (FOPAE) of Bogotá currently counts with one warehouse where physical equipment and supplies are stored to respond to different types of emergencies, including technological incidents. The transfer time of these items from the only existing warehouse to an emergency location is a critical factor to reduce the human causalities. To this end and in collaboration with FOPAE, we propose a linear optimization model to determine the optimal location of these warehouses in order to minimize the total costs and subject to covering at least a certain percentage of the affected people and considering the feasible locations for this purpose. Then, using a Monte Carlo simulation method we compare the performance of relief logistics with our proposed solution to that of the existing conditions. This study shows an improvement of over 27% in the average travel times with our proposed solution.