GIS-based MCDM framework combined with coupled multi-hazard assessment for site selection of post-earthquake emergency medical service facilities in Wenchuan, China

Abstract

Emergency medical service plays a critical role in treating injuries after destructive earthquakes, and emergency medical evacuation is very time-sensitive. Emergency medical service facilities (EMSFs), which are located in affected areas, are effective in reducing the time for patient transfers and improving survival rates. In this paper, we present a comprehensive framework to guide site selection for post-earthquake EMSFs. The proposed method constructs a novel evaluation criteria system and applies interval AHP to determine criterion weights. Next, we use a coupled multi-hazard assessment method to estimate the coupled hazards of multiple earthquake-triggered disasters. Lastly, we adopt TOPSIS to evaluate the suitability of alternative locations for EMSF site selection and rank them in order of evaluation results. Using data from Wenchuan, China, we show that the selected EMSFs outperform those by existing approaches in facility capacity, coupled hazard, and medical evacuation performance, and the riskiest locations can be avoided through evaluation and sort. Our results suggest that improvements in survival rates and EMSF safety levels are possible over the status quo by the proposed framework.