scholarly journals Binary Programming Model for Rostering Ambulance Crew-Relevance for the Management and Business

Mathematics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Marcikic Horvat ◽  
Branislav Dudic ◽  
Boris Radovanov ◽  
Boban Melovic ◽  
Otilija Sedlak ◽  
...  

The nature of health care services is very complex and specific, thus delays and organizational imperfections can cause serious and irreversible consequences, especially when dealing with emergency medical services. Therefore, constant improvements in various aspects of managing and organizing provision of emergency medical services are vital and unavoidable. The main goal of this paper is the development and application of a binary programming model to support decision making process, especially addressing scheduling workforce in organizations with stochastic demand. The necessary staffing levels and human resources allocation in health care organizations are often defined ad hoc, without empirical analysis and synchronization with the demand for emergency medical services. Thus, irrational allocation of resources can result in various negative impacts on the financial result, quality of medical services and satisfaction of both patients and employees. We start from the desired staffing levels determined in advance and try to find the optimal scheduling plan that satisfies all significant professional and regulatory constraints. In this paper a binary programming model has been developed and implemented in order to minimize costs, presented as the sum of required number of ambulance crews. The results were implemented for staff rostering process in the Ambulance Service Station in Subotica, Serbia. Compared to earlier scheduling done ad hoc at the station, the solution of the formulated model provides a better and equable engagement of crews. The developed model can be easily modified and applied to other organizations with the same, stochastic, nature of the demand.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 526-537
Author(s):  

Emergency care for life-threatening pediatric illness and injury requires specialized resources including equipment, drugs, trained personnel, and facilities. The American Medical Association Commission on Emergency Medical Services has provided guidelines for the categorization of hospital pediatric emergency facilities that have been endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).1 This document was used as the basis for these revised guidelines, which define: 1. The desirable characteristics of a system of Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) that may help achieve a reduction in mortality and morbidity, including long-term disability. 2. The role of health care facilities in identifying and organizing the resources necessary to provide the best possible pediatric emergency care within a region. 3. An integrated system of facilities that provides timely access and appropriate levels of care for all critically ill or injured children. 4. The responsibility of the health cane facility for support of medical control of pre-hospital activities and the pediatric emergency care and education of pre-hospital providers, nurses, and physicians. 5. The role of pediatric centers in providing outreach education and consultation to community facilities. 6. The role of health cane facilities for maintaining communication with the medical home of the patient. Children have their emergency care needs met in a variety of settings, from small community hospitals to large medical centers. Resources available to these health care sites vary, and they may not always have the necessary equipment, supplies, and trained personnel required to meet the special needs of pediatric patients during emergency situations.



2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 138-146
Author(s):  
Svitlana MALONOHA

The importance of digital infrastructure for the transformation of emergency medical services as one of the priority areas of public policy and public authorities are considered. Some approaches to the definition of digital infrastructure are studied. This study made it possible to identify the components of the digital infrastructure of emergency medical services and outline its role in the health care ecosystem. The approach to the application of the modular architecture of the digital infrastructure of emergency medical services as a conceptual basis for the integration of information systems of different departments into a single emergency system is considered. Exist two groups of mechanisms that influence the formation of the digital infrastructure of emergency medical services and indicate the causal links that explain how their use can lead to the transformation of emergency medical services. The range of tasks that are solve due to the digital infrastructure aimed at improving the efficiency, accuracy of diagnosis and provision of emergency medical services is outlined. New opportunities are opening up to improve the quality of emergency medical services provision in a human-centered health care system based on a digital infrastructure, the central elements of which are the exchange of information contained in electronic records and patient health cards and mobile digital devices, diagnostics and information transfer. The list of problems on the way of emergency medical services transformation is formulated and some recommendations for their solution are offered, the formulation of which is based on the analysis of existing practices and own long-term experience at the emergency medical services system.



2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Huibers ◽  
Anders H Carlsen ◽  
Grete Moth ◽  
Helle C Christensen ◽  
Ingunn S Riddervold ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Patients in need of acute health care do not always contact the most suitable health care service provider. Contacting out-of-hours primary care for an urgent problem may delay care, whereas contacting emergency medical services for a non-urgent problem could ultimately affect patient safety. More insight into patient motives for contacting a specific health care provider may help optimise patient flows. This study aims to explore patient motives for contacting out-of-hours primary care and the emergency medical services in Denmark.Methods We conducted a cross-sectional observational study by sending a questionnaire to patients contacting out-of-hours primary care and emergency medical services, both of which can be directly contacted by patients, in two of five Danish regions in 2015. As we aimed to focus on the first access point, the emergency department was not included. The questionnaire included items on patient characteristics, health problem and 26 pre-defined motives. Descriptive analyses of patient characteristics and motives were conducted, stratified by the two health care service providers. Factors associated with contacting each of the two service providers were explored in a modified Poisson regression analysis, and adjusted risk ratios were calculated.Results Three key motives for contacting the two service providers were identified: ‘unpleasant symptoms’, ‘perceived need for prompt action’ and ‘perceived most suitable health care provider’. Other important motives were ‘need arose outside office hours’ and ‘wanted to talk to a physician’ (out-of-hours primary care) and ‘expected need for ambulance’ and ‘worried’ (emergency medical services). Higher probability of contacting the emergency medical services versus out-of-hours primary care was seen for most motives relating to own assessment and expectations, previous experience and knowledge, and own needs and wishes. Lower probability was seen for most motives relating to perceived barriers and benefits.Conclusions Patient motives for contacting the two health care service providers were partly overlapping. The study contributes with new knowledge on the complex decision-making process of patients in need of acute health care. This knowledge could help optimise existing health care services, such as patient safety and the service level, without increasing health care costs.



Revista EIA ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (29) ◽  
pp. 31-46
Author(s):  
Pablo Zapata Murillo ◽  
Maria Gulnara Baldoquin de la Peña

Ambulance location, in a certain area of coverage, is a key element in reducing the waiting time of a potential patient and the initiation a healthcare service in Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The Operations Research area, developing and solving adequate mathematical models, helps to make good decisions in EMS. We propose two variants of a Mixed Integer Linear Programming model for locating heterogeneous fleet vehicles to support different types of services in emergency medical care, taking into account the operational requirements of a health care service company in Colombia. The proposed models do not exactly match any of those found in the literature. The models are solved with Gurobi solver and the modeling language AMPL and they are successfully validated with historical data of the company under study and some estimates based on external sources. These obtained results are compared using an adaptation of the concept of Preparedness taken from the literature for ambulance positioning, as regard to measure the readiness of the system to the expected demand. The new results show that the relevance of each model depends of the prioritization of services and/or areas that the company considers.



2021 ◽  
Vol 104 (Suppl. 1) ◽  
pp. S35-S39

Background: Ultrasound guided peripheral intravenous access (USGPIV) has derived benefits for the Emergency and Pre-hospital Management. However, no studies have yet been conducted that have focused upon Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel in Thailand. Objective: To introduce USGPIV cannulation to the health care providers of Emergency Medical Services and to examine the success rates of the first attempts at PIV cannulation. Materials and Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted with 49 EMS providers in August 2020. All respondents had been participants in a USGPIV workshop. Afterwards, the participants’ skills were evaluated in a Pre-hospital simulation model, which was conducted in a moving ambulance. The data, which was recorded, noted the number of attempts required to successfully obtain USGPIV access, as well as the participants’ opinions about using ultrasound in this procedure. Results: Among the 49 participants, the first attempt success rate was found to be at 57.14%. The participants’ genders, their years of work experience, their experience of performing PIV with real patients, and the categories of the Emergency Medical Services health care providers were determined not to be factors that had contributed to the success rate of the first attempts at USGPIV. Our study demonstrated a “High” level of satisfaction with regard to performing USGPIV with this ultrasound device (4 out of 5). However, the participants noted that some elements of the environment in the ambulance may have affected the success rate of performing this procedure. Conclusion: In this study, the success rate of the first attempts was found to be lower than in other studies. However, in regard to this simulation, implementing this procedure represents the first step towards assisting Thai EMS personnel to perform ultrasound procedures. Keywords: Ultrasound, Peripheral IV cannulation, Emergency medicine, Emergency medical services, Emergency medical personnel





1992 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 323-323

The first Pan-European Conference on Emergency Medical Services (PECEMS) was convened in Budapest, Hungary, 30 August through 3 September 1992, under the sponsorship of numerous international and national organizations with participants representing more than 40 countries.Evidence placed before the conference identified serious deficiencies in the delivery of emergency health care in the overwhelming majority of participating countries.



2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Linares-González ◽  
José Sáez Rodríguez ◽  
Cristina M. Beltrán-Aroca ◽  
Eloy Girela-López


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