The implementation of logistics in the field of crisis management has its source in the growing number of natural disasters and other threats associated with civilizational development.
Among them, one can mention events such as the disaster in Japan (2011), Hurricane Katrina (2005), the earthquake in Iran (2003), the attack on the World Trade Center (2001), fires in Russia (2010), the serious accident in Viareggio, Italy (2009), and a number of other events that resulted in a huge number of victims and caused a massive scale of destruction. As a result of climate change, environmental degradation, and rapid urbanization, a further increase in the number of natural disasters and a multiplication of their intensity are expected over the next 50 years. As W. Kitler writes, “the whole paradox in the development of humanity is expressed by the fact that the higher its level, the greater the scope of difficult and dangerous situations that severely affect the sensitive areas of life of individual people, social groups, nations, as well as the entire international community”. Taking into account the growing scale of contemporary threats, uncertain conditions for conducting operations, and a limited number of resources, logistics is gaining priority importance.
In foreign literature, the importance of logistics in crisis management is being dynamically researched and developed. Research in this area is conducted, among others, at the Hanken School of Economics in Finland, the National Defence University of Finland, the Fritz Institute in the USA, the Humanitarian Logistics Association in Kenya, the Verbandes Entwicklungspolitik Deutscher Nichtregierungsorganisationen in Berlin, and The International Council of Voluntary Agencies in Switzerland. Logistics in crisis management is defined as “the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the efficiency and effectiveness of the flows of human, material, financial, and information resources from the place of their acquisition or storage to the final recipient, adequately to the emerging information and the resulting needs, using both state and private means”. In Poland, explorations regarding the use of logistics in security and crisis management are not yet very popular, although publications on the subject can be found more and more often. Analyses in this area are conducted by, among others: E. Nowak, T. Pokusa, M. Duczmal, A. Szymonik, J. Szołtysek, K. Ficoń, M. Ciesielski, and M. W. Jaroszyński.
The complexity of actions taken in crisis management and the growing role of logistics in this area were the reason for undertaking research aimed at identifying the conditions and limitations in the logistical approach to crisis management. The conducted literature analyses were supplemented with research carried out in 2011 at the Municipal and County Headquarters of the State Fire Service in the Silesian Voivodeship.
The article contains 20,540 characters.
Source: Logistyka Magazine 6/2012