Scheduling Non-Urgent Patient Transportation While Maximizing Emergency Coverage
P.L. van den Berg (TU Delft - Discrete Mathematics and Optimization, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam)
J. T. van Essen (Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI), TU Delft - Discrete Mathematics and Optimization)
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Abstract
Many ambulance providers operate both advanced life support (ALS) and basic life support (BLS) ambulances. Typically, only an ALS ambulance can respond to an emergency call, whereas non-urgent patient transportation requests can be served by either an ALS or a BLS ambulance. The total capacity of BLS ambulances is usually not enough to fulfill all non-urgent transportation requests. The remaining transportation requests then have to be performed by ALS ambulances, which reduces the coverage for emergency calls. We present a model that determines the routes for BLS ambulances while maximizing the remaining coverage by ALS ambulances. Different from the classical dial-a-ride problem, only one patient can be transported at a time, and not all requests are known in advance. Throughout the day, new requests arrive, and we present an online model to deal with these requests.
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