NCJ Number
7099
Date Published
1971
Length
47 pages
Annotation
MATHEMATICAL MODEL APPLIED TO PROBLEMS IN DISPATCHING NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT UNITS TO RESPOND TO EMERGENCY CALLS FOR SERVICE.
Abstract
THE MODEL WAS DESIGNED FOR SITUATIONS IN WHICH TWO UNITS COOPERATE IN SERVING A REGION. AVERAGE RESPONSE TIME TO CALLS AND THE WORKLOAD OF EACH UNIT WERE CALCULATED AS FUNCTIONS OF THE BOUNDARY WHICH SEPARATED THEIR RESPONSE AREAS. THE BOUNDARIES WHICH MINIMIZED AVERAGE RESPONSE TIME AND THE ONES WHICH EQUALIZED WORKLOAD WERE DETERMINED. THE RESEARCH PROGRAM LED TO RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE DESIGN OF RESPONSE AREAS IN REALISTIC LOCATIONS WHERE THERE WERE MANY UNITS. THE SUGGESTIONS WERE TESTED BY SIMULATION, AND WERE ADOPTED BY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT FOR CERTAIN PARTS OF NEW YORK CITY WHICH HAD HIGH ALARM RATES. THE RESULTS ARE GENERAL ENOUGH TO APPLY TO ANY SERVICE SYSTEM OF THE FIXED LOCATION TYPE, SUCH AS SPECIAL POLICE UNITS, BUT DO NOT ENCOMPASS ALL OF THE IMPORTANT ALLOCATION PROBLEMS IN SUCH A SYSTEM.