Modeling Canadian search and rescue operations

In preparation for the forthcoming replacement of Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopters in Canada, military planners are concerned with the operational performance of the new helicopter ‘Cormorant’ as well as its level of service when operating out of the existing SAR bases. In this study, Bao Nguyen and Kevin Ng present a goal programming model incorporating maximal coverage and p-median concepts in location theory to assess the level of service for the proposed future SAR system (that is, the Cormorant is replacing the current Labrador helicopter). To quantify the operational performance of the Cormorant, they use queueing theory and simulation to obtain the best-, average- and worst-case analyses of the expected steady-state time a distress incident spends in the queue. They demonstrate that the proposed system provides a significant improvement over the current one. In addition, their analysis has established a baseline for future performance evaluations.