Postdisaster Volatility of Blood Donations in an Unsteady Blood Supply Chain

The stochastic behavior of both transfusion (demand) and blood donations (collection) is a challenge for the blood supply chain. Although donations are not fully within the control of blood supply chain, the blood service can marginally moderate it by postponing appointments in the case of having an overstock, or by triggering a call for additional blood when faced with shortages. Such shortages are often observed as a consequence of catastrophic events. Past studies show that the response to a call for blood after a disaster is substantive. Yet the consequential impact on the supply chain is not well understood. This is due to the perishability of blood and the fact that donors are not eligible to give blood for a certain period after a donation has been made. In this study, the donation process is modeled with a Markov chain and the impact of a call for blood resulting from a disaster is investigated. This article highlights new actionable insights that aid planners to mitigate the negative impacts of a substantial response to a call for blood.