Location of Emergency Treatment Sites after Earthquake using Hybrid Simulation

Abstract

A mass-casualty natural disaster such as an earthquake is a rare, surprising event that is usually characterized by chaos and a lack of information, resulting in an overload of casualties in hospitals. Thus, it is very important to refer minor and moderately-injured casualties, that are the majority of casualties and whose injuries are usually not life threatening, to ad hoc care facilities such as Emergency Treatment Sites (ETSs). These facilities support the efficient use of health resources and reduce the burden on permanent healthcare facilities. In our study, a hybrid simulation model, based on a combination of discrete events and an agent-based simulation, provides a solution to the uncertainty of positioning temporary treatment sites. The simulation methodology used compares between "rigid" and "flexible" operating concepts of ETSs (main vs. main+minor ETSs) and found the "flexible" concept to be more efficient in terms of the average walking distance and number of casualties treated in the disaster area.