NCJ Number
15488
Date Published
1971
Length
162 pages
Annotation
A METHOD OF EVALUATING EMERGENCY AMBULANCE SERVICE BY USING DISPATCH DELAY AND TRAVEL DELAY AS COMPONENT VARIABLES OF RESPONSE TIME.
Abstract
THE ANALYSIS OF THE EMERGENCY AMBULANCE SERVICE IS BASED ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TIME ELAPSING BETWEEN THE OCCURRENCE OF THE EMERGENCY AND THE FIRST ARRIVAL OF A PROPERLY EQUIPPED AMBULANCE AND ITS WELL TRAINED CREW. THIS RESPONSE TIME IS CONSIDERED IN TERMS OF TWO COMPONENTS: THE DISPATCH DELAY (THE TIME BETWEEN THE RECEPTION OF THE CALL AND AN AMBULANCE BEING AVAILABLE TO RESPOND) AND THE TRAVEL DELAY (THE TIME TAKEN FOR THE AMBULANCE TO TRAVEL TO THE SCENE OF THE EMERGENCY). AS A FIRST APPROACH TO MODELLING THE DISPATCH DELAY SIMPLE RESULTS FROM THE THEORY OF QUEUES ARE INVOKED TO RELATE THE PROBABILITY OF A DISPATCH DELAY AND ITS EXPECTED LENGTH TO THE RATE AT WHICH CALLS ARRIVE, THE TIME TAKEN TO SERVICE CALLS, AND THE NUMBER OF VEHICLES ASSIGNED TO THE SERVICE. AS A RESULT OF THE INSIGHTS AFFORDED BY THIS MODELLING EFFORT, ANOTHER MODEL IS DEVELOPED TO SHOW HOW A HIGHER QUALITY, REDUCED COST SERVICE MAY BE PROVIDED USING 'SECONDARY' AMBULANCES. BY MAKING SIMPLIFYING ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF DEMAND AND THE STREET LAYOUT IN A CITY, MODELS OF THE EXPECTED TRAVEL DELAY ARE DEVELOPED FOR DIFFERENT DISTRIBUTIONS OF AMBULANCES. USING ESTIMATES OF THE COSTS OF VEHICLES, EQUIPMENT AND MANPOWER IT BECOMES POSSIBLE FOR THE AMBULANCE SERVICE ADMINISTRATOR TO COMPARE THE LEVEL OF SERVICE, IN TERMS OF THE RESPONSE TIME, WITH THE EXPECTED COSTS OF PROVIDING SUCH A SERVICE. THIS CAPABILITY IS IMPORTANT IN THE DESIGN OF EMERGENCY AMBULANCE SYSTEMS, IN PREDICTING BUDGET REQUIREMENTS IN THE FUTURE, AND EVALUATING ALTERNATIVE METHODS FOR PROVIDING THE SERVICE. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)