Conceptual Modelling of Emerging Technologies - The Use of Novel Electric Aircraft for Emergency Medical Services

Implementation of new technologies in operations systems sets specific requirements on simulation conceptual modelling, relating to uncertainties with respect to their specifications, changes implied for operations systems and regulatory frameworks restricting their operation. Furthermore, modellingobjectives may have to be tailored to innovation agendas made by potential adopters of technologies. In this paper, we explore the needs for extending current frameworks to facilitate conceptual modelling of new technologies, using a case study on the introduction of novel electric aircraft (eVTOLs) for Emergency Medical Services. Extensions proposed concern the choice of modelling objectives – which should be aligned with an innovation agenda, technology representation as model content, inputs and outputs – accounting for various uncertainties, and the modelling process – requiring a careful concerting with engineering efforts

Tracing frequent users of regional care services using emergency medical services data:a networked approach

Objectives: This study shows how a networked approach relying on ‘real-world’ emergency medical services (EMS) records might contribute to tracing frequent users of care services on a regional scale. Their tracing is considered of importance for policy-makers and clinicians, since they represent a considerable workload and use of scarce resources. While existing approaches for data collection on frequent users tend to limit scope to individual or associated care providers, the proposed approach exploits the role of EMS as the network’s ‘ferryman’ overseeing and recording patient calls made to an entire network of care providers. Design: A retrospective study was performed analysing 2012–2017 EMS calls in the province of Drenthe, the Netherlands. Using EMS data, benefits of the networked approach versus existing approaches are assessed by quantifying the number of frequent users and their associated calls for various categories of care providers. Main categories considered are hospitals, nursing homes and EMS. Setting: EMS in the province of Drenthe, the Netherlands, serving a population of 491 867. Participants: Analyses are based on secondary patient data from EMS records, entailing 212 967 transports and 126 758 patients, over 6 years (2012–2017). Results: Use of the networked approach for analysing calls made to hospitals in Drenthe resulted in a 20% average increase of frequent users traced. Extending the analysis by including hospitals outside Drenthe increased ascertainment by 28%. Extending to all categories of care providers, inside Drenthe, and subsequently, irrespective of their location, resulted in an average increase of 132% and 152% of frequent users identified, respectively. Conclusions: Many frequent users of care services are network users relying on multiple regional care providers, possibly representing inefficient use of scarce resources. Network users are effectively and efficiently traced by using EMS records offering high coverage of calls made to regional care provider