The hypercube is a spatially distributed queuing model based on Markovian analysis approximations to analyze the configuration and operation of server-to-customer emergency systems, in which servers travel to the locations of the customers. In the present study we adapt the model to analyze emergency medical systems (EMS) on highways operating with particular dispatching policies, which considers that only certain ambulances in the system can service calls in a given region (partial backup), and two or more identical or distinct ambulances can simultaneously service a single call (multiple dispatch). We also consider the situations in which an ambulance is busy in its base servicing a non-emergency call (i.e. it does not need to travel along the highway). Computational results of the model application to a case study of an EMS operating on highways in São Paulo state are presented and analyzed.
emergency medical systems; hypercube queuing model; ambulance deployment; highways
