Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Planning Rescue Services with Non-Stationary Rescue Units

  • Published:
Fire Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Geographical accessibility is fundamental when planning rescue services. At present there are several programs for computing the accessibility of stationary rescue units. This study suggests a method for evaluating geographic accessibility in scenarios containing also non-stationary units. The method supports the planning process by matching the risk of an incident occurring with the rescue units’ capabilities and accessibility. The method is implemented in the computer program Rescue Unit Planner. The result of the analysis is presented in thematic maps and graphs as level of coverage, mean response time and concentration. The method and the computer program have been evaluated in two case studies: one urban area in southern Sweden and one rural area in northern Sweden. The case studies show that that this method can be useful in the rescue service planning process.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10
Figure 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Jadell H (2004) Tidsfaktorns betydelse vid räddningsinsatser. Rescue Services Agency

  2. Savas ES (1969) Simulation and cost-effectiveness analysis of New York’s emergency ambulance service. Manage Sci v15:B608–B627

    Google Scholar 

  3. Larson RC (1975) Approximating the performance of urban emergency service systems. Oper Res 23(5):845–868

    Google Scholar 

  4. Stout J (1983) System status management: the strategy of ambulance placement. JEMS 9(5):22–32

    Google Scholar 

  5. Guagliardo MF (2004) Spatial accessibility of primary care: concepts, methods and challenge. Int J Health Geogr 3(3)

  6. Berglund S (2001) GIS in transport modelling. Doctoral thesis. Department of Infrastructure and Planning, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

  7. Bergqvist R, Tornberg J (2005) GIS for describing and analysing regional logistics systems. Mapp Image Sci 2:61–68

    Google Scholar 

  8. Eurosys, Eurosys AB, http://www.eurosys.se (2007-11-08)

  9. Effektanalys 1.0 - User manual, The rescue service in Jönköping, 2005

  10. FSEC (Fire Service Emergency Cover) http://www.communities.gov.uk/fire/runningfire/fireserviceemergency/

  11. ADAM (Deccan International) http://www.deccanintl.com/adam_overview.asp

  12. Kolesar P, Blum E (1973) Square root law for fire engine response distances. Manage Sci 19(12):1368–1378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Hogg J (1968) The siting of fire stations. Oper Res Q 19(3):275–287

    Google Scholar 

  14. Toregas C, Swain R, ReVelle C, Bergman L (1971) The location of emergency service facilities. Oper Res 19(6):1363–1373

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  15. Karasakal O, Karasakal E (2004) A maximal covering location model in the presence of partial coverage. Comput Oper Res 31:1515–1526

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  16. Andersson T, Värbrand P (2007) Decision support tools for ambulance dispatch and relocation. J Oper Res Soc 58(2):195–201

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  17. Kolesar P, Walker W (1974) An algorithm for the dynamic relocation of fire companies. Oper Res 22(2):249–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Swersey AJ (1982) A Markovian decision model for deciding how many fire companies to dispatch. Manage Sci 28(4):352–365

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  19. Huang B, Pan X (2007) GIS coupled with traffic simulation and optimization for incident response. Comput Environ Urban Syst 31:116–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Andersson T, Särdqvist S (2007) Planning for effective use of fire and rescue service resources. Manuscript

  21. Svensson S, Särdqvist S (2006) Grundmodell inom ramarna för BeRädd. Swedish Rescue Services Agency

  22. Handy SL, Niemer DA (1997) Measuring accessibility: an exploration of issues and alternatives. Environ Plann A 29:1175–1194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. MapInfo (2007) MapXtreme. www.mapinfo.com

  24. Dahlgren A (2005) A proximity analysis application for large source dataset. In Proceedings of ScanGIS 2005, Stockholm, pp 125–136

  25. Dahlgren A, Harrie L (2007) Development of a tool for proximity applications. In Proceedings of Agile 2007, Ålborg, Denmark

  26. Swedish National Rural Development Agency (2007) http://www.glesbygdsverket.se

  27. Danielsson J (2007) Analytisk dimensionering av räddningstjänst. Department of Fire Safety Engineering and Systems Safety, Lund University, Report 5243

  28. Adawi R, Olsson P, Pettersson M, Wahl P (2007) Utformning av arbete Skydd mot olyckor i Kävlinge kommun

  29. Dahlgren A (2007) PM Försöksområde Vemdalen - utvärdering av geografisk tillgänglighet av räddningstjänsten. Glesbygdsverket

  30. Muncipality of Berg (2007) Overview plan of the Vemdalen-Björnrike area

  31. Muncipality of Härjedalen (2007) Overview plan of the Storhogna-Sångbäcken-Katarina area

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study is part of the Geographic Accessibility Studies project. Financial support from the Swedish Rescue Services and Swedish National Rural Development Agency is acknowledged. Thanks to the rescue services in Malmö, Berg and Härjedalen for their cooperation on the case studies. We would especially like to thank Johan Danielsson, Rima Adawi, Sven-Erik Svensson (rescue services in Berg Municipality) and Kurt Svensson (rescue services in Härjedalen Municipality). We are also thankful to Tobias Andersson (Linköping University), Anders Östman (University of Gävle) and Martin Palm for valuable comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Rural Development Agency, Ostersund, Sweden

    Anders Dahlgren

  2. GIS Centre, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Lars Harrie

  3. Swedish Rescue Services Agency, Karlstad, Sweden

    Anders Axelsson

Authors
  1. Anders Dahlgren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lars Harrie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anders Axelsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anders Dahlgren.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dahlgren, A., Harrie, L. & Axelsson, A. Planning Rescue Services with Non-Stationary Rescue Units. Fire Technol 45, 239–255 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-008-0051-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-008-0051-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation