Research on facility location is abundant. However, this research does not typically address the particular conditions that arise when locating facilities to service large-scale emergencies, such as earthquakes, terrorist attacks, etc. In this work we first survey general facility location problems and identify models used to address common emergency situations, such as house fires and regular health care needs. We then analyze the characteristics of large-scale emergencies and propose a general facility location model that is suited for large-scale emergencies. This general facility location model can be cast as a covering model, a P-median model or a P-center model, each suited for different needs in a large-scale emergency. Illustrative examples are given to show how the proposed model can be used to optimize the locations of facilities for medical supplies to address large-scale emergencies in the Los Angeles area. Furthermore, comparison of the solutions obtained by respectively using the proposed mo...

A modeling framework for facility location of medical services for large-scale emergencies

We provide a comprehensive overview of the typical decisions to be made in resource capacity planning and control in health care, and a structured review of relevant articles from the field of Operations Research and Management Sciences (OR/MS) for each planning decision. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, to position the planning decisions, a taxonomy is presented. This taxonomy provides health care managers and OR/MS researchers with a method to identify, break down and classify planning and control decisions. Second, following the taxonomy, for six health care services, we provide an exhaustive specification of planning and control decisions in resource capacity planning and control. For each planning and control decision, we structurally review the key OR/MS articles and the OR/MS methods and techniques that are applied in the literature to support decision making.

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Taxonomic classification of planning decisions in health care: a structured review of the state of the art in OR/MS

A number of new location models which utilize the notion of coverage were developed, tested and utilized in a study of the Baltimore City Fire Protection System. These models extend the location decision to include not only specification of the sites of the basic facilities but also the distribution of specialized equipment and/or manpower among those sites. They are seen as more realistic representations of the location decisions which are required in public sector applications.

The Team/Fleet Models for Simultaneous Facility and Equipment Siting

In 1978 the city of Austin, Texas, began a study of its emergency medical service (EMS) system to determine what services should be delivered, by whom, via what number and types of equipment, and sited at which locations. The resulting plan called for a system quite different from that in operation since 1976: four advanced life-support and eight basic life-support vehicles were to operate from two EMS-only stations and 10 shared-use fire stations. The plan, which the city council unanimously passed in 1980, has saved $3.4 million (1984 dollars) in construction costs and $1.2 million (1984 dollars) per year in operating costs. Average response time has been reduced despite an upsurge in calls for service, and equitable service is provided to those who need it most.

Determining Emergency Medical Service Vehicle Deployment in Austin, Texas

Location Problems in the Public Sector

Network models, incorporating several new impedance measures, for the location of ambulances and hospitals are introduced. Although the minimization of average impedance is frequently stated as a criterion in location models, the impedance does not usually embrace more than a single link, such as the time taken from a facility to a demand point. Here the impedance is extended to include not only the primary link between facility and demand but also the link from the point of rescue to the point of ultimate service. The return link between the service point and dispatching station is considered as well. Models for the simultaneous location of ambulance dispatching points and hospitals are framed. /Author/ /TRRL/

Determining Ambulance—Hospital Locations for On-Scene and Hospital Services

The paper discusses several criteria by which locational alternatives for public facilities should be evaluated, and suggests metrics for quantifying these criteria in terms of the decision variables of the models that are often used in applied public-facility-location problems. Subsequently, multiobjective programming is considered as an important tool in locational analysis, and several applications of vector optimization techniques in that context are demonstrated.

C S ReVelle

Papers

Determining Ambulance—Hospital Locations for On-Scene and Hospital Services

An Operational Approach to Welfare Considerations in Applied Public-Facility-Location Models