AN EXAMINATION OF SYSTEMS FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE

THE SYSTEMS APPROACH TO PROBLEM SOLVING INVOLVES EFFORTS TOWARDS PROBLEM DEFINITION, THE DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM AND THE EVALUATION OF THE ALTERNATIVES ON THE BASIS OF THEIR COSTS, EFFECTIVENESS AND RISKS. AMBULANCE SERVICES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS WERE VIEWED IN THESE TERMS. THE AMBULANCE FUNCTION WAS DEFINED AS THAT OF PROVIDING THE NECESSARY MEDICAL AID TO EMERGENCY VICTIMS AND TRANSPORTING THEM TO PERMANENT AID FACILITIES. ALTERNATIVE SYSTEMS THAT PERFORM THIS FUNCTION INVOLVE A TOTAL MIX OF PEOPLE, VEHICLES, EQUIPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS, TECHNOLOGY, AND POLICY DECISIONS THAT RESPOND TO EMERGENCY SITUATIONS. SUCH SYSTEMS INVOLVE CONVENTIONAL AMBULANCES, AIRBORNE AMBULANCES, MOBILE HOSPITALS, AND OTHERS. FURTHERMORE, THE LOCATION OF THE STATIONS FOR THESE TYPES OF SYSTEMS, THE NUMBER OF UNITS, ETC. WOULD ALSO BE VARIED. A SET OF SUCH SYSTEMS WERE DESCRIBED. THE EQUIPMENT NECESSARY AND OTHER VEHICLE DESIGN CRITERIA HAVE BEEN EXTENSIVELY DISCUSSED ELSEWHERE. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SUCH SYSTEMS COULD BE MEASURED BY DETERMINING THE TOTAL TIME IT TAKES TO RESPOND TO EMERGENCIES OF DIFFERENT TYPES, AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS AND UNDER DIFFERENT CONDITIONS. THE RESPONSE TIME WAS DEFINED TO INCLUDE THE TOTAL ELAPSED TIME FROM THE OCCURRENCE OF THE EMERGENCY UNTIL ADEQUATE CARE WAS APPLIED. RESPONSE TIME INCLUDES DIRECTION TIME, COMMUNICATION TIME, ASSESSMENT TIME, PREPARATION TIME, DIAGNOSTIC TIME, AID TIME AND TRAVEL TIME TO THE SCENE OF THE ACCIDENT. THESE TIMES COULD BE DETERMINED THROUGH A SIMULATION MODEL. THE SIMULATION MODEL WAS DEVELOPED IN CONCEPTUAL TEAMS AND UTILIZES A STUDY AREA DESCRIBED AS A SET OF ANALYSIS ZONES. EACH ZONE CAN BE CHARACTERIZED BY ITS LOCATION AND THE FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF EMERGENCIES. THE LOCATIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF AID STATIONS ARE ALSO GIVEN AS INPUT. IT IS THEN POSSIBLE TO SIMULATE THE OCCURRENCE OF EMERGENCIES AND THE RESPONSE TIMES OF ALTERNATIVE SYSTEMS TO THESE EMERGENCIES. SUCH A SIMULATION COULD PROCEED IN TWO WAYS; BY COMPUTING RESPONSE TIME FOR EVERY POSSIBLE SOLUTION OR THROUGH MONTE CARLO TECHNIQUES. COSTS COULD BE CALCULATED IN A SIMILAR MANNER. THE EFFORT WAS MAINLY CONCEPTUAL AND HOPEFULLY WILL LEAD TO MORE RATIONAL AND EFFECTIVE EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE SERVICES IN EMERGENCIES. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • 136 Pp, FigS, TABS, REFS
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

  College of Applied Science Engineering
  Milwaukee, WI  United States  53201
• Authors:
  • Beimborn, E
• Publication Date: 1970-1

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Disasters and emergency operations; Emergency vehicles; Hazards and emergency operations; Mathematical models; Simulation; Systems analysis
• Uncontrolled Terms: Models
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00226035
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 6 1971 12:00AM