On the Evaluation of the Ambulance Capacity of the Asian Side of Istanbul in the Case of a Serious Earthquake

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to analyze a strategy for the assignment and transportation of injured patients to hospital to decrease the demand on transportation, in both predisaster and postdisaster periods, on the Anatolian side of Istanbul. Methods: Two approaches are used in this study: a Voronoi diagram, and a heuristic approach to the problem of scheduling. A Voronoi diagram is used to divide the city into 74 regions, where each hospital has a certain region of responsibility. The transportation strategy of 1 hospital is modeled by minimizing the makespan (ie, the maximal completion time) and the work-in-process, which are used as different objectives in scheduling theory. Results: The total waiting time of 100 injured people was minimized to 13,036 min when a total of 3 vehicles was used in the studied region, on the Asian side of Istanbul. The transportation capacity and total operating capacity of the hospitals should be approximately equal. Conclusions: The people of Istanbul will be in a safer position if the suggested measures are implemented. This is an important consideration, as Istanbul is situated in a region where serious earthquakes are possible at any moment.