Concerns about increased emergency vehicle response times in the Washington D.C. Region, especially during peak periods, have led to the implementation of signal preemption systems to facilitate the efficient and safe movement of emergency vehicles. However, to date only limited research has been carried out on the travel characteristics of emergency vehicles. This paper presents an analysis of emergency vehicle characteristics to enhance our understanding of emergency vehicle operations and impacts and to assist public agencies and other stakeholders in the planning and deployment of emergency vehicle preemption systems. Emergency vehicle characteristics that merit special attention include temporal and spatial distribution of emergency vehicle travel; frequency and duration of preemption requests; platoon responses; and crashes involving emergency vehicles. Data on major corridors in Fairfax County, Virginia and Montgomery County, Maryland are used in the analysis. The analysis indicates that such data are useful to assess the need for a preemption system along major arterials. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates the importance of considering emergency vehicle preemption impacts regarding delay to other vehicles. It is also important to note that there is some variability in the emergency vehicle characteristics depending on the proximity of a firehouse to an intersection and other factors. It is proposed that future efforts build upon this research to develop warrants to be used in determining the appropriateness of installing preemption systems at signalized intersections. / Master of Science

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2008. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Diploma thesis is focused on problems of emergency vehicles with priority rights. The thesis evaluates and compares the current situation with the situation in selected surrounding countries. For Czech Republic, the thesis also presents a statistical overview of the accident rate, the main causes of accidents and mistakes, which are committed by the drivers On this basis, there is given methodology, how to help improve the situation.

Travel time estimation can be used in strategical distribution of ambulances and ambulance stations. A more accurate travel time estimation can lead to a better distribution of these ambulance sites. External factors such as weather and traffic conditions can affect the travel time from a starting location to a destination. In this work, we investigate how the SOS Alarm dataset of ambulance trips data and the machine learning model Gradient Boosted Decision Trees can be used to estimate travel time, and how these estimationscan be improved by incorporating aforementioned conditions when predicting travel time. Results showed that reasonable performance can be achieved for a subset of data where the precise origin and destination is known compared to a subset where the precise origin is unknown, and that traffic conditions could improve model performance on a subset of data containing trips only for a single route. Including weather represented as individual weather parameters did not, however, lead to enhanced performance.

No description available.

Crash data suggests that intersections are areas producing conflicts among the various road users because of entering and crossing movements. Traffic signal control systems may not always be sufficient in preventing collisions at intersections between emergency and other vehicles. The Firefighter Fatality Retrospective Study of 2002 illustrates that the second leading cause of fatal injury for firefighters is vehicle collisions. Furthermore, the involvement of an emergency vehicle in a crash can negatively affect the overall efficiency of emergency response services. Thus, there is a need to facilitate the implementation of higher-payoff strategies to improve the safety of emergency vehicle passage through signalized intersections. This research aims to provide a basis for the transportation professionals to identify problem areas and take measures that will potentially enhance intersection safety for emergency vehicles. It includes the presentation and comparison of the EV crash situation in Northern Virginia. The results indicate that 49% of all EV accidents along U.S. Highways in Northern Virginia occurred at signalized intersections. This percentage is 75% along U.S. Highways in Fairfax County, the largest county in Northern Virginia, and it is 79% along U.S. 1 in Fairfax County. The analysis, also, illustrates that the major collision type at signalized intersections was of the angle type, which suggests that an appropriate warning sign may be absent. These findings enhance our understanding of emergency vehicle crash characteristics and thus, may facilitate the identification of possible warrants to be used in determining the appropriateness of installing signal preemption equipment at signalized intersections. / Master of Science

In the past, the study of Emergency Vehicle (EV) signal preemption has been mostly done using field studies. None of the simulation models that are currently commercially available have the capability to model the presence of EVs and simulate the traffic dynamics of the vehicles surrounding them. This study presents a macroscopic traffic model for examining the effect of signal preemption for EVs on traffic control measures, roadway capacity, and delays incurred to the vehicles on the side streets. The model is based on the cell transmission model, which is consistent with the hydrodynamic theory of traffic flow. A special component, in the form of a moving bottleneck that handles the traffic dynamics associated with the presence of EVs, was developed in the model. Several test scenarios were constructed to demonstrate the capabilities of the model for studying the impact of signal preemption on an arterial with multiple intersections under various traffic demand levels and varying frequencies of the arrival of EVs. Performance measures, such as average vehicle delay, maximum delay, and standard deviation of delay to traffic on all approaches, were obtained. An additional advantage of the model, apart from the capability to model EVs, is that the state-space equations used in the model can be easily incorporated into a mathematical programming problem. By coupling with a desired objective function, the model can be solved analytically. Optimal solutions can be generated to obtain insights into the development of traffic control strategies in the presence of EVs. / Master of Science

Trots påkallande av fri väg med blåljus och siren, kan utryckningsfordon ha svårt att ta sig fram i trafiken. Detta då civila förare inte alltid lyckas upptäcka utryckningsfordonen, bland annat på grund av dåliga ljus-, väder-, eller vägförhållanden. Denna studie undersökte därför huruvida meddelanden som varnar för ankommande utryckningsfordon (EVA-varningar), för bilförare med olika körerfarenhet samt tidigare vana av avancerade förarstödsystem (ADAS), påverkar lämnandet av fri väg. Resultatet visade att förarna som mottog EVA-varningar, i genomsnitt, lämnade fri väg tidigare än de som inte mottog några varningar. Förarna med låg ADAS-vana var dock mindre positiva till att vilja mottaga EVA-varningar i framtiden, även om de upplevde att varningarna förbättrade deras körbeteende. Utifrån resultatet verkar EVA-varningar vara ett bra komplement för att påkalla fri väg, där varken körerfarenhet eller ADAS-vana verkar spela någon roll för förståelsen av EVA-systemet. Vidare har tidigare studier visat att olika bilförares attityd gentemot utryckningsfordon kan påverka viljan att lämna fri väg. Därmed undersökte denna studie även bilförares upplevelse, beteende och attityd gentemot utryckande ambulans och polis. Resultatet visade att förarna hade en mer accepterande attityd gentemot utryckande ambulanser än vad de hade mot poliser. Exempelvis instämde deltagarna i högre grad med att det är viktigare att lämna fri väg till ambulanser, att ambulansens utryckningsärenden är mer brådskande, och att det är mer okej att ambulanser bryter mot trafikregler än om polisen gör det. Däremot var alla eniga om att fri väg alltid måste lämnas till både ambulans och polis. / Even though emergency vehicles use lights and sirens to demand surrounding traffic to move over, civilian drivers sometimes have trouble detecting them. This could be due to poor light, weather, or road conditions. Therefore, this study examined whether warning messages for approaching emergency vehicles (EVA-warnings), for drivers with different driving experiences and previous experience of advanced driving assistant system (ADAS), can facilitate moving over. The results showed that drivers who received EVA-warnings moved over earlier than those who did not receive any warnings. However, drivers with low ADAS-experience were less positive about the idea of receiving EVA-warnings in the future, even though they felt the warnings improved their driving. Overall, EVA-warnings worked as a good complement to encourage drivers to move over, where neither driving experience nor previous ADAS-experience seems to affect the understanding of the EVA-system. Furthermore,previous studies have shown that different attitudes towards emergency vehicles can affect the willingness to move over. Therefore, this study examined drivers' experience, behavior, and attitude towards ambulances and police vehicles. The results showed that drivers had a more accepting attitude towards ambulances compared to police vehicles. The participants agreed to a greater extent that it is more important to move over for ambulances, that the ambulance's emergency matters are more urgent, and that it is more okay for ambulances to break traffic rules in comparison with police vehicles. However, everyone agreed that one must always move over for both ambulances and police vehicles.

Dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master in Technology: Emergency Medical Care, Durban University of Technology, 2011. / Background Information regarding pre-hospital emergency medical services is limited and it is therefore challenging to determine if there is delay in emergency transport of patients. This study aimed to provide such information specifically regarding the emergency transportation of obstetric patients. Purpose The purpose of the study was to describe the transport of obstetric patients within the Ugu Health District of KwaZulu Natal, in terms of patient profiles, the response time intervals and factors that affected response times. Objectives The objectives of the study were to:  determine response time intervals from the initial call to delivery of the patient to a public sector hospital;  describe the types of obstetric cases being transported;  describe factors that affect response times and;  make recommendations on policies and procedures governing emergency obstetric patient transportation Methodology All obstetric patients transported by Emergency Medical Rescue Service (EMRS) within a 2 month time frame within the Ugu District made up the study population. The study was conducted through prospective quantitative data collection using hospital records, the EMRS information system (communications centre data base records) and the EMRS patient return forms. The data was triangulated which established reliability before descriptive analysis was conducted. vi Findings The EMRS predominantly transports obstetric patients in labour with a gravidity of 1. The mean response interval (from receipt of the call to arrival at the patient) of 1h41minutes was a result of delays in the pre-response interval (pre-response waiting time). The mean pre-response interval of 1h07 minutes was a result of delays caused by ambulance unavailability. Pearson‟s correlation showed a significant relationship between the pre-response interval and response interval i.e. delays in the pre-response interval caused delays in the response interval. The EMRS lacks Standard operating procedures governing emergency transport and this was one of the main factors that contributed to some of the causes of ambulance unavailability. The lack of standard operating procedures is therefore also partly responsible for a delayed response interval. 64.5% of the incidents achieved response time intervals of more than 1hour and has therefore failed to achieve the predetermined Department of Health target for 70% of ambulances reaching the site of the patient within 1 hour. Other factors that affect the response time intervals were the poor road conditions, shift change delays and re-routing of ambulances. Conclusion EMRS predominantly transports obstetric patients in labour, including high risk patient groups that are arguably beyond the scope of care of the Basic and Intermediate qualified Emergency Care Practitioners. Standard operating procedures for governing emergency transport are lacking and have contributed to a number of factors affecting response time intervals. Standard operating procedures therefore need to be developed taking into consideration the findings of this study as well as previous recommendations by the National Committee on Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths (NCCEMD).