Incident and Emergency Medical Services Management from a Regional Perspective

Traffic crashes and other emergencies have impacts on traffic operations in transportation networks, often resulting in non-recurring congestion. Congestion, in turn, may impede the ability of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to provide timely response to those in need of medical attention. The work in this paper investigated the impact of incidents of varying severity and duration on transportation network performance in the Birmingham (AL, USA) area. The intensity and extent of the impact over space and time were assessed on the basis of average speeds. The analysis of incident scenarios was performed using the Visual Interactive System for Transport Algorithms (VISTA) platform. Moreover, first responders' travel times to the scene of the incident were collected to identify best units for responding, in an effort to improve current dispatching practices. Finally, a secondary incident on the EMS to the hospital was considered to further demonstrate the superiority of Dynamic Traffic Assignment (DTA) over traditional static assignment methods in capturing dynamically changing traffic conditions. The study findings are expected to benefit local transportation planners, traffic engineers, emergency responders, and policy makers by allowing them to assess various response strategies to major incidents and emergencies and select the ones that minimize their potential impacts.