An Integrated optimization and simulation approach for the ambulance location problem

Download
2015
Şahin Macit, Medine
Management of smooth-functioning Emergency Medical Services (EMS) along with efficient and effective utilization of ambulances which are an essential part of this service is of vital importance. Selecting the suitable location of ambulance stations and the allocation of ambulances to their corresponding stations are important decisions which directly affect the quality of response to an emergency case. In this study, an integrated optimization and simulation approach is proposed so as to determine the size of the ambulance fleet, the location of stations and the allocation of the ambulances to these stations. This approach includes a covering model, namely Gradual Maximum Expected Covering Location Problem (G-MEXCLP), and a generic EMS system simulation model used in succession in the search for the best solution in an iterative manner. We use several test problems in the literature to validate the G-MEXCLP model. We then test the integrated approach using the data of the city of Adana, and demonstrate the advantages of the approach by comparing the results obtained to the current ambulance location plan for the City of Adana.

Suggestions

Locating EMS vehicles in general networks with an approximate queueing model and a metaheuristic solution approach
Akdoğan, Muharrem Altan; Bayındır, Zeynep Pelin; İyigün, Cem; Department of Industrial Engineering (2015)
In this study, problem of optimal location decision of ambulances as an server-to-customer Emergency Medical Service (EMS) vehicle is discussed. Hypercube queueing models (HQM) are employed to achieve performance measures significant to the location decision of EMS vehicles in spatial networks. Geroliminis et al(2009) extends HQM and propose Spatial Queueing Model(SQM). Our study proposes a generalization of SQM to be used in general networks. Quality of approximations inherit to SQM is questioned, and repo...
A genetic algorithm for the multi-level maximal covering ambulance location problem
Karaman, Mesut; Meral, Fatma Sedef; Department of Industrial Engineering (2008)
The emergency medical services (EMS) provide the preliminary assistance and transportation for patients in need of urgent medical care in order to decrease the mortality rate and reduce the non-reversible effects of injuries. Since the objective is directly related to the human life, the value of the proposed solutions in order to improve the performance of EMS is highly welcomed. Mainly, there are three problems that EMS managers face with: location, allocation and redeployment of the EMS facilities/vehicl...
STOCHASTIC EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE VEHICLE LOCATION PROBLEM: EQUITY, PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND MATHEMATICAL MODELS
Akdoğan, Muharrem Altan; Bayındır, Zeynep Pelin; İyigün, Cem; Department of Industrial Engineering (2023-1-23)
In this thesis, emergency medical service (EMS) vehicle location problem with uncertainties in demand, travel times, and incident handling time is studied in three layers. The performance measures of EMS systems are evaluated with discrete event simulation models due to the uncertainties incorporated. Firstly, we focus on the equity in service quality resulting from vehicle location decisions in emergency medical services. We address the unbalanced service quality among regions with respect to various mathe...
Design and implementation of mobile patient data collection and transmission for an emergency ambulance
Kösen, Emre; Mumcuoğlu, Ünal Erkan; Department of Information Systems (2004)
In this thesis, a low-cost system, called Mobile Ambulance, is designed and implemented that provides patient̕s medical data collection and transmission from a moving ambulance. The aim of the system is to decrease the waiting time for critical care patients to be seen at the emergency department (ED) at the same time to equip the emergency physician with the essential medical data before the patient arrives the ED. Mobile Ambulance is a multi-tiered distributed application composed of three components: amb...
A Semantically Enriched Clinical Guideline Model Enabling Deployment in Heterogeneous Healthcare Environments
Laleci, Gokce B.; Doğaç, Asuman (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2009-03-01)
Clinical guidelines are developed to assist healthcare practitioners to make decisions on patient's medical problems, and as such they communicate with external applications to retrieve patient data to initiate medical actions through clinical workflows, and transmit information to alert/reminder systems. The interoperability problems in the healthcare information technology domain prevent wider deployment of clinical guidelines because each deployment requires a tedious custom adaptation phase. In this pap...
Citation Formats
M. Şahin Macit, “An Integrated optimization and simulation approach for the ambulance location problem,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2015.