This paper addresses a real-life public patient transportation problem derived from the Hong Kong Hospital Authority (HKHA), which provides ambulance transportation services for disabled and elderly patients from one location to another. We model the problem as a multi-trip dial-a-ride problem (MTDARP), which requires designing several routes for each ambulance. A route is a sequence of locatio...

STUDY OBJECTIVE Emergency department (ED) crowding increases ambulance diversion. Ambulance diversion disproportionately affects individuals who rely on ambulance transport. The purpose of this study is to determine which populations rely most on ambulance transport. METHODS We queried the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey database for 1997 to 2000 and 2003 to 2005 for patients...

BACKGROUND Ambulance response time is a crucial factor in patient survival. The number of emergency cases (EMS cases) requiring an ambulance is increasing due to changes in population demographics. This is decreasing ambulance response times to the emergency scene. This paper predicts EMS cases for 5-year intervals from 2020, to 2050 by correlating current EMS cases with demographic factors at ...

BACKGROUND The utilization of ambulances in low- and middle-income countries is limited. The aim of this study was to ascertain frequency of ambulance use and characteristics of patients brought into emergency departments (EDs) through ambulance and non-ambulance modes of transportation. METHODS The Pakistan National Emergency Departments Surveillance (Pak-NEDS) was a pilot active surveillanc...

OBJECTIVES (1) To determine the pattern of ambulance arrivals in the emergency department (ED) and (2) to review resource allocation based on these data. METHODS All (13 697) ambulance arrivals in 1996 to the ED of Tan Tock Seng Hospital were studied and where relevant compared with the walk in and total arrivals of the same year. The following data were obtained from computer records: (a) pa...

BACKGROUND Ambulance crashes have become an increasing source of public concern. Emergency medical services directors have little data to develop ambulance operation and risk management policies. OBJECTIVE To describe fatal ambulance crash characteristics, identifying those that differentiate emergency and nonemergency use crashes. METHODS This was a retrospective analysis of all fatal ambu...

BACKGROUND Africa accounts for one sixth of global road traffic deaths-most in the pre-hospital setting. Ambulance transport is expensive relative to other modes of pre-hospital transport, but has advantages in time-sensitive, high-acuity scenarios. Many countries, including Ethiopia, are expanding ambulance fleets, but clinical characteristics of patients using ambulances remain ill-defined. ...

INTRODUCTION Emergency Departments (ED) in the UK have seen increasing attendance rates in recent years. Departments are now seeking strategies to reduce their attendances. A review of all ambulance attendances to the ED at Ninewells Hospital was conducted to identify if patients presenting by ambulance could be seen and treated more appropriately in other parts of the health service. METHOD ...

OBJECTIVE Turkey is a developing country undergoing a system change in the prehospital emergency medical services (EMS). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the institutional structure and legislative framework on the number of ambulance accidents in Turkey. METHODS During the first phase of the study, ambulance accident data was requested and obtained from the Ministry o...

BACKGROUND Research on utilization of ambulances by pediatric patients lacks an objective, reproducible tool for the evaluation of patterns of ambulance use by both the providers and the users of this resource. OBJECTIVES 1) To develop an objective, diagnosis-based measure of appropriateness of ambulance utilization. 2) To use the measure to evaluate whether Municipal Ambulance Service dispat...