Improving access to emergency medical services using advanced air mobility vehicles

Abstract The latest advancements in electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles indicate that soon this technology will be available in multiple fields. One potential application of this new technology is in emergency medical services. These vehicles will be able to reach emergency sites faster than ground ambulances at lower costs than traditional helicopters. So in the following years, eVTOL vehicles could be used for aeromedical transportation. One crucial decision in implementing such a technology in emergency medical services is the location of their take-off and landing areas (vertiports). In this work, we propose a methodology for locating the vertiports in a healthcare network to improve emergency medical services coverage in hard-to-reach zones. We studied the system performance locating the vertiports for emergency services in existing healthcare facilities or outside them as auxiliary bases. In addition, we evaluated the performance of different operational scenarios regarding the use of emergency eVTOL. To do so, we used data analytics techniques (i.e., clustering algorithms) in conjunction with facility location models. The approach is tested using data from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in France. Results showed that locating the vertiports in existing healthcare facilities is the best choice in terms of coverage of hard-to-reach zones. However, on average, the response times increased compared to locating the vertiports as auxiliary bases outside the healthcare facilities. Besides, the results indicated that implementing eVTOL vehicles for aeromedical transportation can provide better access to emergency medical services in hard-to-reach zones. Still, the autonomy of such vehicles plays an essential role in their applicability.