Modelling optimal location for pre-hospital helicopter emergency medical services
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Increasing the range and scope of early activation/auto launch helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) may alleviate unnecessary injury mortality that disproportionately affects rural populations. To date, attempts to develop a...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2009-05-01
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| Series: | BMC Emergency Medicine |
| Online Access: | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-227X/9/6 |
| _version_ | 1811297716881326080 |
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| author | L'Heureux Randy Bell Nathaniel J Schuurman Nadine Hameed Syed M |
| author_facet | L'Heureux Randy Bell Nathaniel J Schuurman Nadine Hameed Syed M |
| author_sort | L'Heureux Randy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Increasing the range and scope of early activation/auto launch helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) may alleviate unnecessary injury mortality that disproportionately affects rural populations. To date, attempts to develop a quantitative framework for the optimal location of HEMS facilities have been absent.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Our analysis used five years of critical care data from tertiary health care facilities, spatial data on origin of transport and accurate road travel time catchments for tertiary centres. A location optimization model was developed to identify where the expansion of HEMS would cover the greatest population among those currently underserved. The protocol was developed using geographic information systems (GIS) to measure populations, distances and accessibility to services.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our model determined Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) was the optimal site for an expanded HEMS – based on denominator population, distance to services and historical usage patterns.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>GIS based protocols for location of emergency medical resources can provide supportive evidence for allocation decisions – especially when resources are limited. In this study, we were able to demonstrate conclusively that a logical choice exists for location of additional HEMS. This protocol could be extended to location analysis for other emergency and health services.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T06:08:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-da629026ec754c63a487ffc01d2a8492 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-227X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T06:08:16Z |
| publishDate | 2009-05-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Emergency Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-da629026ec754c63a487ffc01d2a84922022-12-22T02:59:09ZengBMCBMC Emergency Medicine1471-227X2009-05-0191610.1186/1471-227X-9-6Modelling optimal location for pre-hospital helicopter emergency medical servicesL'Heureux RandyBell Nathaniel JSchuurman NadineHameed Syed M<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Increasing the range and scope of early activation/auto launch helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) may alleviate unnecessary injury mortality that disproportionately affects rural populations. To date, attempts to develop a quantitative framework for the optimal location of HEMS facilities have been absent.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Our analysis used five years of critical care data from tertiary health care facilities, spatial data on origin of transport and accurate road travel time catchments for tertiary centres. A location optimization model was developed to identify where the expansion of HEMS would cover the greatest population among those currently underserved. The protocol was developed using geographic information systems (GIS) to measure populations, distances and accessibility to services.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our model determined Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) was the optimal site for an expanded HEMS – based on denominator population, distance to services and historical usage patterns.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>GIS based protocols for location of emergency medical resources can provide supportive evidence for allocation decisions – especially when resources are limited. In this study, we were able to demonstrate conclusively that a logical choice exists for location of additional HEMS. This protocol could be extended to location analysis for other emergency and health services.</p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-227X/9/6 |
| spellingShingle | L'Heureux Randy Bell Nathaniel J Schuurman Nadine Hameed Syed M Modelling optimal location for pre-hospital helicopter emergency medical services BMC Emergency Medicine |
| title | Modelling optimal location for pre-hospital helicopter emergency medical services |
| title_full | Modelling optimal location for pre-hospital helicopter emergency medical services |
| title_fullStr | Modelling optimal location for pre-hospital helicopter emergency medical services |
| title_full_unstemmed | Modelling optimal location for pre-hospital helicopter emergency medical services |
| title_short | Modelling optimal location for pre-hospital helicopter emergency medical services |
| title_sort | modelling optimal location for pre hospital helicopter emergency medical services |
| url | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-227X/9/6 |
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