Abstract
In this paper, we address the dynamic emergency medical service (EMS) systems. A dynamic location model is presented for locating and relocating a fleet of ambulances. The proposed model can control the movements and locations of ambulances in order to provide a better coverage of the demand points. The model can keep this ability under different fluctuation patterns that may happen during a given period of time. A number of numerical experiments have been carried out by using some real-world data sets. They have been collected through the French EMS system at the Hospital Henri Mondor, France. Finally, we present a comparison between the results of the introduced model and the outputs of a classical EMS dynamic location model. According to the observations, the introduced model provides a better coverage of the EMS demands.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alsalloum OI, Rand GK (2006) Extensions to emergency vehicle location model. Comput Oper Res 33:2725–2743
Andersson T, Varband P (2007) Decision support tools for ambulance dispatch and relocation. J Oper Res Soc 58:195–201
Aringhieri R (2009) Composing medical crews with equity and efficiency. Central Eur J Oper Res 17:343–357
Ball MO, Lin LF (1993) A reliability model applied to emergency service vehicle location. Oper Res 41:18–36
Batta R, Dolan JM, Krishnamurty NN (1989) The maximal expected covering location problem: revisited. Transp Sci 23:277–287
Bélanger V, Ruiz A, Soriano P (2009) Déploiement et redéploiement des véhicules ambulanciers dans la gestion d’un service préhospitalier d’urgence. Technical report
Beraldi P, Bruni ME, Conforti D (2004) Designing robust emergency medical service via stochastic programming. Eur J Oper Res 158:183–193
Beraldi P, Bruni ME (2009) A probabilistic model applied to emergency service vehicle location. Eur J Oper Res 196:323–331
Brotcorne L, Laporte G, Semet F (2003) Ambulance location and relocation models. Eur J Oper Res 147:451–461
Church RL, ReVelle CS (1974) The maximal covering location problem. Pap Reg Sci Assoc 32:101–118
Cordeau JF, Laporte G, Potvin JY (2007) Transportation on demand. In: Barnhart C, Laporte G (eds) Handbooks in operations research and management science, vol 14. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Coskun N, Erol R (2010) An optimization model for locating and sizing emergency medical service stations. J Med Syst 34:43–49
Daskin MS, Stern EH (1981) A hierarchical objective set covering model for emergency medical service vehicle deployment. Transp Sci 15:137–152
Daskin MS (1982) Application of an expected covering model to emergency medical service design. Decis Sci 13:416–439
Daskin MS (1983) A maximum expected location problem: formulation, properties and heuristic solution. Transp Sci 17:416–439
Daskin MS, Dean LK (2004) Location of health care facilities. In: Brandeau ML, Sainfort F, Pierskalla WP (eds) Operations research and health care: a handbook of methods and applications. Springer, Berlin
Dlouhy M, Pickl S, Rauner M, Leopold-Wildburger U (2009) Special issue on “Innovative approaches for decision analysis in energy, health, and life sciences”. Central Eur J Oper Res 17:229–231
Gendreau M, Laporte G, Semet F (1997) Solving an ambulance location model by tabu search. Locat Sci 5:75–88
Gendreau M, Laporte G, Semet F (2001) A dynamic model and parallel tabu search heuristic for real-time ambulance relocation. Parallel Comput 27:1641–1653
Hogan K, ReVelle CS (1986) Concepts and application of backup coverage. Manag Sci 34:1434–1444
Lavado RF, Cabanda EC (2009) The efficiency of health and education expenditures in the Philippines. Central Eur J Oper Res 17:275–291
Mandell MB (1988) Covering models for two-tiered emergency medical services system. Locat Sci 6:355–368
Marianov V, ReVelle CS (1995) Siting emergency services. In: Drezner Z (ed) Facility location. Springer, New York, pp 199–223
Rajagopalan HK, Saydam C, Xiao J (2008) A multiperiod set covering location model for dynamic redeployment of ambulances. Comput Oper Res 35:814–826
Rauner MS, Doris AB, Wild C (2005) Preface. Quantitative decision support for health services. Central Eur J Oper Res 13(4):319–323
ReVelle CS, Hogan K (1989) The maximum availability location problem. Transp Sci 23:192–200
Schilling DA, Elzinga DJ, Cohon J, Church RL, ReVelle CS (1979) The TEAM/FLEET models for simultaneous facility and equipment sitting. Transp Sci 13:163–175
Schmid V, Doerner KF (2010) Ambulance location and relocation problems with time-dependent travel times. Eur J Oper Res 207:1293–1303
Storbeck J (1982) Slack, natural slack and location covering. Socio-Econ Plann Sci 16:99–105
Thirion A (2006) Modèles de localisation et de réallocation d’ambulances. Application aux communes en provinces de Namur et Brabant Wallon. Ph.D. Thesis, Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix, Namur, Belgium
Toregas C, Swain R, ReVelle CS, Bergman L (1971) The location of emergency service facilities. Oper Res 19:1363–1373
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the French National Agency of Research (Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR)), under the contract Performance Optimization of SAMU (ANR-POSAMU). We thank also the authorities of SAMU-94 (French EMS center in the county Val-de-Marne), Hôpital Henri Mondor (Paris), and our collaborators in Institut Géographique Nationale (IGN), Paris.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Moeini, M., Jemai, Z. & Sahin, E. Location and relocation problems in the context of the emergency medical service systems: a case study. Cent Eur J Oper Res 23, 641–658 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10100-014-0374-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10100-014-0374-3