Relief resource allocation with time restrictions in dual reserve humanitarian supply chain

Relief resource allocation is a pivotal component of humanitarian aid during disaster response. The urgency of our work stems from two temporal constraints: time-sensitive medical intervention (golden hour therapeutic window) to prevent infected patient deterioration, and demand dynamics with hourly/daily increments in affected areas. The humanitarian supply chain relies on a dual reserve system (physical stockpiles and production capacity) to meet these demands. We address the interdependency between demand volatility and emergency response activation by developing a prescriptive optimisation framework for relief resource allocation under time restrictions. The framework partitions relief resource pooling stations endogenously into virtual units for modelling and proposes a three-phase solution: baseline (no time restrictions), feasible (with time restrictions) and optimal (with time restrictions) allocation. This method corrects discrepancies between planned and actual resource needs, critical in pandemic scenarios where delays heighten mortality risks and resource misallocation. Simulations on bioterrorism-induced disease outbreaks validate the framework. Results show: (1) optimised resource allocation while maintaining differential time restrictions at each affected area, (2) enhanced dual reserve system performance, operational robustness and resilience and (3) time restrictions directly shape allocation schemes by leveraging available reserves. The framework applies to scenarios like the COVID-19 pandemic, offering actionable managerial insights.