Algorithms for Optimizing Fleet Staging of Air Ambulances
This addresses the critical problem of efficient emergency medical response for disaster-affected populations, though it is incremental as it builds on existing optimization methods.
The research tackled optimizing air ambulance fleet staging for disaster response by formulating an integer linear programming model and testing algorithms, finding that a Tabu search algorithm achieved near-optimal coverage with minimized travel distance and significantly faster runtime compared to Gurobi, especially when enhanced with parallel CUDA processing.
In a disaster situation, air ambulance rapid response will often be the determining factor in patient survival. Obstacles intensify this circumstance, with geographical remoteness and limitations in vehicle placement making it an arduous task. Considering these elements, the arrangement of responders is a critical decision of the utmost importance. Utilizing real mission data, this research structured an optimal coverage problem with integer linear programming. For accurate comparison, the Gurobi optimizer was programmed with the developed model and timed for performance. A solution implementing base ranking followed by both local and Tabu search-based algorithms was created. The local search algorithm proved insufficient for maximizing coverage, while the Tabu search achieved near-optimal results. In the latter case, the total vehicle travel distance was minimized and the runtime significantly outperformed the one generated by Gurobi. Furthermore, variations utilizing parallel CUDA processing further decreased the algorithmic runtime. These proved superior as the number of test missions increased, while also maintaining the same minimized distance.