A tool for selecting optimal emergency response unit locations using an integrated AHP-MILP approach

• Main Authors: San Juan, Jayne Lois G., Fernandez, C., Lim, B., Lim, E., Li, R.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2018
• Subjects: Emergency management; Spatial systems; Multiple criteria decision making; Industrial Engineering
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/1670; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/faculty_research/article/2669/type/native/viewcontent
• Institution: De La Salle University

The location of emergency response units (ERUs) is crucial to their operational success. This paper proposes the use of both qualitative and quantitative techniques to consider possible trade-offs between the two in determining optimal locations through an integrated Analytical Hierarchical Process and Mixed Integer Linear Programming approach with consideration of multiple routes with changing velocities and multiple ERU locations in a district. Neither objective is optimized at the other's expense through the maximization of the least efficiency value generated. A case application showed the model's validity by prioritizing the ERU locations that had the highest preference ratings. Scenario analysis revealed that varying ERU capacity does not change the optimal solution but affects the percent of population served, while changing the number of ERUs required per district and the preference ratings of the potential locations does, as the model adjusts to meet the new requirements and considers changed priorities. © 2017 IEEE.