A Realistic Discrete Event Simulation model for Ambulance Location and Deployment within a regional Emergency Medical Service

Abstract

The objective of Emergency Medical Services (EMSs) is to promptly respond to calls from citizens for first aid, providing pre-hospital care and, if necessary, to transfer patients to an appropriate Emergency Department (ED) by ambulance. The efficiency of such a system strongly depends on the deployment of ambulance home bases, i.e., locations where ambulances and their crews are strategically positioned, ready to respond to emergency calls. This paper presents a general Discrete Event Simulation (DES) model designed to capture the stochastic behaviour and workflow of regional ambulance emergency systems. The proposed model incorporates and integrates information collected from different sources, reproducing very accurately the operation of the ambulance system, thus allowing a more comprehensive and realistic analysis. To show the applicability and reliability of the proposed general model, a case study provided by the Azienda Regionale Emergenza Sanitaria - ARES 118 (an Italian Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority - ARES~118}) is presented. It concerns a territory within the Lazio region of Italy, including a medium-size city along with sparsely populated areas. The reported results about scenario analyses highlight how the model we propose can be fruitfully used by the managers to improve effectiveness and quickness of the entire regional EMS system.