A GIS-Based Decision Support System for Reducing Air Ambulance Response Times: A Case Study on Public Schools in Jeddah City

Randa Alharbi

doi:10.4236/jgis.2015.74030

Abstract

In injuries reducing ambulance response time (time from injury to hospital arrival) is an important factor for saving people’s lives. Helicopter emergency medical services can reduce out-of-hospital transport times because of their high speed and their ability to travel in straight paths unlike ground ambulance which are restricted to road network paths, as well as the ability toaccess rural or remote area injuries that are difficult to reach by ground ambulance. GIS technology aids air ambulance movement planning to reduce out-of-hospital response time based on mathematical and geographic models to support decision making which is necessary from out-of-hospital care providers. The goal of this study is to use GIS to develop an efficient DSS to outline where air ambulance can reduce response times, by using spatial analysis tools to create Euclidean distance and direction zones around receiving hospitals. The study concludes that GIS technology can be used to develop an efficient DSS to outline where air ambulance can reduce response times, by creating surfaces of Euclidean allocation, direction, and distance that can be used to improve initial response times for the civil defense air rescue and air ambulance services.

Highlights

In recent years, population growth in Jeddah City is increasing rapidly along with traffic problems in a city where car travel demand and density are very high due to the absence of public transportation.The lack of public awareness of traffic rules causes many traffic problems such as traffic jams and travel timeHow to cite this paper: Alharbi, R. (2015) A Geographic information system (GIS)-Based Decision Support System for Reducing Air Ambulance Response Times: A Case Study on Public Schools in Jeddah City
Helicopter emergency medical services can reduce out-of-hospital transport times because of their high speed and their ability to travel in straight paths unlike ground ambulance which are restricted to road network paths, as well as the ability to access rural or remote area injuries that are difficult to reach by ground ambulance
Geographic information system (GIS) is a system that transforms data collected from various sources and gives a graphical and visual representation of the information

Summary

Introduction

Population growth in Jeddah City is increasing rapidly along with traffic problems in a city where car travel demand and density are very high due to the absence of public transportation.The lack of public awareness of traffic rules causes many traffic problems such as traffic jams and travel timeHow to cite this paper: Alharbi, R. (2015) A GIS-Based Decision Support System for Reducing Air Ambulance Response Times: A Case Study on Public Schools in Jeddah City. A GIS can be a very powerful tool in emergency management This technology has the ability to capture the data by digitizing, scanning, digital imagery, or aerial photography; to store the data; to manipulate the data; to form data queries; to analyze the data; and most importantly, to visualize the data. GIS technology brings to the user the ability to integrate, store, process, and output geographic information. This system takes a multitude of data from numerous sources and graphically displays the information [3]

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