• Inj. Prev. · Feb 2017

    Exploring optimal air ambulance base locations in Norway using advanced mathematical modelling.

    • Jo Røislien, Pieter L van den Berg, Thomas Lindner, Erik Zakariassen, Karen Aardal, and J Theresia van Essen.
    • Department of Health Studies, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway.
    • Inj. Prev. 2017 Feb 1; 23 (1): 10-15.

    BackgroundHelicopter emergency medical services are an important part of many healthcare systems. Norway has a nationwide physician staffed air ambulance service with 12 bases servicing a country with large geographical variations in population density. The aim of the study was to estimate optimal air ambulance base locations.MethodsWe used high resolution population data for Norway from 2015, dividing Norway into >300 000 1 km×1 km cells. Inhabited cells had a median (5-95 percentile) of 13 (1-391) inhabitants. Optimal helicopter base locations were estimated using the maximal covering location problem facility location optimisation model, exploring the number of bases needed to cover various fractions of the population for time thresholds 30 and 45 min, both in green field scenarios and conditioning on the current base structure. We reanalysed on municipality level data to explore the potential information loss using coarser population data.ResultsFor a 45 min threshold, 90% of the population could be covered using four bases, and 100% using nine bases. Given the existing bases, the calculations imply the need for two more bases to achieve full coverage. Decreasing the threshold to 30 min approximately doubles the number of bases needed. Results using municipality level data were remarkably similar to those using fine grid information.ConclusionsThe whole population could be reached in 45 min or less using nine optimally placed bases. The current base structure could be improved by moving or adding one or two select bases. Municipality level data appears sufficient for proper analysis.Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

      Pubmed     Free full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…