Ambulance Emergency Response Optimization in Developing Countries

The lack of emergency medical transportation is viewed as the main barrier to the access of emergency medical care in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). In this paper, we present a robust optimization approach to optimize both the location and routing of emergency response vehicles, accounting for uncertainty in travel times and spatial demand characteristic of LMICs. We traveled to Dhaka, Bangladesh, the sixth largest and third most densely populated city in the world, to conduct field research resulting in the collection of two unique datasets that inform our approach. This data is leveraged to develop machine learning methodologies to estimate demand for emergency medical services in a LMIC setting and to predict the travel time between any two locations in the road network for different times of day and days of the week. We combine our robust optimization and machine learning frameworks with real data to provide an in-depth investigation into three policy-related questions. First, we demonstrate that outpost locations optimized for weekday rush hour lead to good performance for all times of day and days of the week. Second, we find that significant improvements in emergency response times can be achieved by re-locating a small number of outposts and that the performance of the current system could be replicated using only 30% of the resources. Lastly, we show that a fleet of small motorcycle-based ambulances has the potential to significantly outperform traditional ambulance vans. In particular, they are able to capture three times more demand while reducing the median response time by 42% due to increased routing flexibility offered by nimble vehicles on a larger road network. Our results provide practical insights for emergency response optimization that can be leveraged by hospital-based and private ambulance providers in Dhaka and other urban centers in LMICs

An exact method for a discrete multiobjective linear fractional optimization

Integer linear fractional programming problem with multiple objective MOILFP is an important field of research and has not received as much attention as did multiple objective linear fractional programming. In this work, we develop a branch and cut algorithm based on continuous fractional optimization, for generating the whole integer efficient solutions of the MOILFP problem. The basic idea of the computation phase of the algorithm is to optimize one of the fractional objective functions, then generate an integer feasible solution. Using the reduced gradients of the objective functions, an efficient cut is built and a part of the feasible domain not containing efficient solutions is truncated by adding this cut. A sample problem is solved using this algorithm, and the main practical advantages of the algorithm are indicated

Optimization for L1-Norm Error Fitting via Data Aggregation

We propose a data aggregation-based algorithm with monotonic convergence to a global optimum for a generalized version of the L1-norm error fitting model with an assumption of the fitting function. The proposed algorithm generalizes the recent algorithm in the literature, aggregate and iterative disaggregate (AID), which selectively solves three specific L1-norm error fitting problems. With the proposed algorithm, any L1-norm error fitting model can be solved optimally if it follows the form of the L1-norm error fitting problem and if the fitting function satisfies the assumption. The proposed algorithm can also solve multi-dimensional fitting problems with arbitrary constraints on the fitting coefficients matrix. The generalized problem includes popular models such as regression and the orthogonal Procrustes problem. The results of the computational experiment show that the proposed algorithms are faster than the state-of-the-art benchmarks for L1-norm regression subset selection and L1-norm regression over a sphere. Further, the relative performance of the proposed algorithm improves as data size increases

Location models in the public sector

The past four decades have witnessed an explosive growth in the field of networkbased facility location modeling. This is not at all surprising since location policy is one of the most profitable areas of applied systems analysis in regional science and ample theoretical and applied challenges are offered. Location-allocation models seek the location of facilities and/or services (e.g., schools, hospitals, and warehouses) so as to optimize one or several objectives generally related to the efficiency of the system or to the allocation of resources. This paper concerns the location of facilities or services in discrete space or networks, that are related to the public sector, such as emergency services (ambulances, fire stations, and police units), school systems and postal facilities. The paper is structured as follows: first, we will focus on public facility location models that use some type of coverage criterion, with special emphasis in emergency services. The second section will examine models based on the P-Median problem and some of the issues faced by planners when implementing this formulation in real world locational decisions. Finally, the last section will examine new trends in public sector facility location modeling.Location analysis, public facilities, covering models