Empirical analysis of ambulance travel times: The case of Calgary emergency medical services

Empirical analysis of ambulance travel times: The case of Calgary emergency medical services

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Article ID: iaor20103557
Volume: 56
Issue: 4
Start Page Number: 716
End Page Number: 723
Publication Date: Apr 2010
Journal: Management Science
Authors: , ,
Keywords: location
Abstract:

Using administrative data for high-priority calls in Calgary, Alberta, we estimate how ambulance travel times depend on distance. We find that a logarithmic transformation produces symmetric travel-time distributions with heavier tails than those of a normal distribution. Guided by nonparametric estimates of the median and coefficient of variation, we demonstrate that a previously proposed model for mean fire engine travel times is a valid and useful description of median ambulance travel times. We propose a new specification for the coefficient of variation, which decreases with distance. We illustrate how the resulting travel-time distribution model can be used to create probability-of-coverage maps for diagnosis and improvement of system performance.

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