A simulation and online optimization approach for the real-time management of ambulances

Emergency Medical Service is one of the most important health care services as it plays a vital role in saving people's lives and reducing the rate of mortality and morbidity. A peak of emergency demand can determine overcrowding at the emergency department. In this operative context, a challenge is the definition of proper real-time dispatching, routing and redeployment policies (DRRP) in such a way to maximize the number of emergency requests served within a time threshold, and to minimize the waiting times. The contribution of this paper is twofold. The former is a simulation model capable to deal with the real-time management of the ambulances, and to generate new ad hoc instances. The latter is a set of simple online algorithms to implement several DRRP. An extensive comparison among different DRRP is also provided.