​Cooperation: Emergency Medical Service Duisburg

Project duration: since 2023
 

Description:

The primary goal of emergency medical services (EMS) is to provide rapid medical assistance to patients in emergency situations. To ensure timely care, emergency sites must be reached within a predefined response time. Achieving this depends on the strategic placement of ambulance stations. Location planning therefore involves determining the number, placement, and capacity of stations and ambulances.

In Duisburg, this task is particularly complex due to a heterogeneous population structure, uneven population density, and varying age distribution. The city’s geography adds another layer of difficulty, as the Rhine and Ruhr rivers divide it into several distinct areas. These factors present unique challenges that must be addressed in ambulance location planning.

The goal of this collaboration is to support the Duisburg EMS in optimizing the placement of ambulance stations and vehicles through mathematical optimization methods that take into account economic, geographic, and demographic factors.