A taxonomy for emergency service station location problem

The emergency service station (ESS) location problem has been widely studied in the literature since 1970s. There has been a growing interest in the subject especially after 1990s. Various models with different objective functions and constraints have been proposed in the academic literature and efficient solution techniques have been developed to provide good solutions in reasonable times. However, there is not any study that systematically classifies different problem types and methodologies to address them. This paper presents a taxonomic framework for the ESS location problem using an operations research perspective. In this framework, we basically consider the type of the emergency, the objective function, constraints, model assumptions, modeling, and solution techniques. We also analyze a variety of papers related to the literature in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the taxonomy and to get insights for possible research directions

A Chance Constrained Programming Model for Reliable Emergency Vehicles Relocation Problem

AbstractEmergency vehicles relocation is one mechanism of increasing preparedness for potential emergencies. This paper addresses the problem of designing reliable emergency vehicles relocation system. Under this respect, we extend the DYNACO model with chance-constrained programming framework for the optimal redeployment of emergency vehicles. The model deals with the availability of emergency vehicles by approximate hypercube. In addition, other random elements including travel time and emergency demand are taken into account in the model. Solution procedure based on genetic algorithm and Monte-Carlo simulation is developed to solve the stochastic model. Computational experiences are reported to illustrate the performance and the effectiveness of the proposed solution

An emergency vehicles allocation model for major industrial disasters

One of the main issues in the event of a major industrial disaster (fire, explosion or toxic gas dispersion) is to efficacy manage emergencies by considering both medical and logistics issues. From a logistics point of view the purpose of this work is to correctly address critical patients from the emergency site to the most suitable hospitals. A Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) Model is proposed, able to determine the optimal number and allocation of emergency vehicles involved in relief operations, in order to maximize the number of successfully treated injured patients. Moreover, a vehicles reallocation strategy has been developed which takes into account the evolution of the patients health conditions. Alternative scenarios have been tested considering a dynamic version of the Emergency Vehicles Allocation Problem, in which patient health conditions evolves during the rescue process. A company located in Italy has been considered as case-study in order to evaluate the performance of the proposed methodology

Towards Designing an Assistant for Semi-Automatic EMS Dispatching

Many Emergency Medical Service (EMS) systems worldwide handle emergency rescues as well as patient transports and dispatchers need to assign ambulances to incidents manually throughout the day. The management of the complex system together with the manual assignments can easily create stress for and pressure on the dispatchers. Mathematical algorithms can help improving the dispatching quality, but then dispatchers still need to choose the best-fitting algorithm and furthermore, trust the algorithm’s dispatching suggestion. We propose an assistant that can support the EMS dispatchers. The assistant offers explanations for the choice of the algorithm as well as the dispatching suggestion in order to increase the dispatchers’ trust and decrease their stress. We ground the assistant’s design in Information Systems as well as Operations Research literature and thus, show how interdisciplinary service research can contribute in designing artefacts for complex service systems to solve real-world problems

Towards smart open dynamic fleets

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33509-4_32Nowadays, vehicles of modern fleets are endowed with advanced devices that allow the operators of a control center to have global knowledge about fleet status, including existing incidents. Fleet management systems support real-time decision making at the control center so as to maximize fleet perform‐ ance. In this paper, setting out from our experience in dynamic coordination of fleet management systems, we focus on fleets that are open, dynamic and highly autonomous. Furthermore, we propose how to cope with the scalability problem as the number of vehicles grows. We present our proposed architecture for open fleet management systems and use the case of taxi services as example of our proposal.Work partially supported by Spanish Government through the projects iHAS (grant TIN2012-36586-C03) and SURF (grant TIN2015-65515-C4-X-R), the Autonomous Region of Madrid through grant S2013/ICE-3019 (“MOSI-AGIL-CM”, cofunded by EU Structural Funds FSE and FEDER) and URJC-Santander (30VCPIGI15).Billhardt, H.; Fernández, A.; Lujak, M.; Ossowski, S.; Julian Inglada, VJ.; Paz, JFD.; Hernández, JZ. (2016). Towards smart open dynamic fleets. En Multi-Agent Systems and Agreement Technologies. Springer. 410-424. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33509-4_32S41042

Forecasting the Demand for Emergency Medical Services

Accurate forecast of the demand for emergency medical services (EMS) can help in providing quick and efficient medical treatment and transportation of out-of-hospital patients. The aim of this research was to develop a forecasting model and investigate which factors are relevant to include in such model. The primary data used in this study was information about ambulance calls in three Swedish counties during the years 2013 and 2014. This information was processed, assigned to spatial grid zones and complemented with population and zone characteristics. A Zero-Inflated Poisson (ZIP) regression approach was then used to select significant factors and develop the forecasting model. The model was compared to the forecasting model that is currently incorporated in the EMS information system used by the ambulance dispatchers. The results show that the proposed model performs better than the existing one

Do Optimization Models for Humanitarian Operations Need a Paradigm Shift?

Optimization approaches for planning and routing of humanitarian field operations have been studied intensively. Yet, their adoption in practice remains scant. This opinion paper argues that effectiveness increase realized by such approaches can be marginal due to triviality of planning problems, external constraints, and information losses. Cost increases, on the other hand, can be substantial. These include costs of implementation and use, data gathering, and mismatches with organizational cultures. Though such costs are a key concern for humanitarian organizations, OR/MS studies typically consider effectiveness measures only. We argue a paradigm shift towards cost-effectiveness maximization and increasing the strength of the presented evidence is needed and discuss corresponding future research needs

Diseño de una técnica de solución para la localización de ambulancias en Bogotá

Se busca diseñar una técnica de solución para la localización de ambulancias en la ciudad de Bogotá D.C, con el fin de mejorar los tiempos de respuesta desde el momento en que se llama a emergencias, hasta que la ambulancia recoge al paciente; asegurando al mismo tiempo que ninguna zona de la ciudad se quede sin cobertura. En la actualidad el tiempo de respuesta promedio de las ambulancias en Bogotá está por encima del estándar internacional; en ciudades como Estados Unidos, este es de catorce minutos con desviación estándar de siete minutos. De la rápida respuesta puede depender la vida del paciente; una eficiente localización puede incidir en la rapidez de atención en los diferentes sectores de la ciudad, sin necesidad de aumentar las ambulancias existentes; garantizando también cobertura para toda la región. Se evaluará la situación actual y se planteará una técnica de solución determinística, y otra estocástica que integre simulación y contemple la variabilidad para algunos parámetros del diseño de contexto de la problemática particular de Bogotá. El estudio propuesto se concluye comparando indicadores que representen los cambios propuestos respecto a la actualidad. Se espera que los tiempos de respuesta mejoren y que exista un nivel de cobertura mínimo.Ingeniero (a) IndustrialPregrad

Geographic Accessibility Analysis - Methods and Application

Geographic accessibility to services is important. Having a grocery store and a school nearby are important living conditions and having a rescue station close by could be a life-saver. Costs for transportation are high and are predicted to increase, new environmental demands are being imposed on transportation and rationalizations are centralizing public and commercial services. These facts make monitoring and planning accessibility increasingly important. Efficient computer systems for accessibility monitoring and planning could be used to improve accessibility to services. The aim of this study is to establish such efficient methods for geographic accessibility analysis and test them in computer applications. This was performed by studying effective ways of structuring data, algorithms for network searches and implementing these theories in test benches and application prototypes. Geographic accessibility to services is essential, especially when long distances must be covered, as in rural areas. The Swedish National Rural Development Agency (SNRDA) analyses accessibility to services from a national perspective, with the focus on rural areas. This is done using a computer model that is implemented in a Geographical Information System (GIS). This study investigates the foundations of the representation of road networks, connecting points to a network and accessibility studies through network searches. The results of this dissertation are meant to be used to develop the next generation of the system. Three papers are presented in this dissertation. The first deals with an evaluation of an existing accessibility analysis system at the Swedish National Rural Development Agency. The focus of the study was to identify performance bottlenecks in the SNRDA’s accessibility system and the problem areas that were found would then guide further research. One of the bottlenecks found in the study was the process of connecting points to large networks. This is investigated in the second paper and suggestions for solutions of the problem are presented. The third study is an applied study for planning accessibility to rescue services. This study concentrates on an application prototype called the Rescue Unit Planner (RUP) used for planning accessibility for non-stationary rescue units. The conclusions of this dissertation are that it is possible to build more efficient systems to perform accessibility analysis. The studies in this dissertation will support the further development of the SNRDA accessibility analysis system, which also was the overall goal