A discrete event simulation model of an emergency department network for earthquake conditions

Abstract

Emergency departments (EDs) are the first admission points of hospitals for patients (victims) during normal and disaster conditions. To meet the uncertain patient demand, make the first examination, discharge or admit into impatient units are included in responsibility of these departments. Resource design of emergency departments in order to struggle patient surge for earthquake disaster conditions affects ED performance measures such as patient length of stay (LOS), human and treatment area utilization and queue length. In this study, an ED network consisting of five public hospital emergency departments where located in the earthquake zone of Istanbul is modeled by discrete event simulation (DES). The aim of the study is to (1) model the ED network for normal conditions, (2) generate earthquake related scenarios, and (3) develop a health care decision and policy making tool for stakeholders.