Desktop Mapping: When Every Second Counts
An emergency medicla service in southwestern Pennsylvania saves valuable time with desktop mapping.
By Christopher Price

In southwestern Pennsylvania, in excess of 500,000 emergency and non-emergency ambulance calls occur each year. The Pennsylvania Department of HealthÕs licensing guideline for ambulance companies is to respond to those emergency calls within 10 minutes.
      The Emergency Medical Service Institute (EMSI), the largest of 16 regional EMS planning agencies in Pennsylvania, is responsible for evaluating the ability of ambulance services to fulfill that guideline within its jurisdiction. In the past, that meant members of EMSIÕs field staff of five had to spend countless days manually driving sample routes for each ambulance service to clock and test response coverage.
      Located in Pittsburgh, EMSI oversees more than 200 ambulance services in a 10-county area of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Its region covers 7,000 square miles, and serves a population of 2.7 million people.
      By Pennsylvania statute and contractual requirement, the non-profit agencyÕs function is to plan, develop, maintain, expand and to improve emergency medical service systems within a specific geographic area of the commonwealth. Most of its activities support regulatory enforcement for the Department of Health.
      These activities include accrediting EMS training institutes, administrating rescue and EMS training program certification exams for providers, accrediting medical command facilities for advanced life support providers, acting as a conduit for ambulance services and training institutes to receive grants from the EMS Operating Fund, collecting scanable incident data, and coordinating communications between service providers and counties within Southwestern Pennsylvania.
      Additionally, EMSI must conduct license inspections of all 200 ambulance services and their 800 vehicles every three years. EMSI now utilizes desktop mapping and drive time analysis software to automate that evaluation process.
      ÒWith solutions from MapInfo® and On Target Mapping™, we are now able to conduct a much more comprehensive and accurate response evaluation for each ambulance service area in just 20 to 30 minutes,Ó explains Christopher Price, regional training coordinator, EMSI. ÒJust a few clicks of the mouse and weÕre also able to take traffic, weather, and vehicle types into account, and then print out detailed maps which graphically display the results. The software has saved us considerable time and money, and is particularly helpful in evaluating response times in densely populated urban areas we serve.Ó
      Based on two years of in-field usuage by EMSI, RESPONSE!™ is a new emergency response solution from On Target Mapping designed to meet the unique requirements of fire, police, hazmat, ambulance and paramedic departments. RESPONSE! allows for a complete analysis of Ôwhat ifÕ scenarios for responding to a scene. The program can determine the average response time from a station or post, the maximum coverage area, and which emergency organization should respond, based on travel time and location.
      RESPONSE! can also be used to map and analyze incidences over time. RESPONSE! requires MapInfo Professional™ 4.0, and is fully compatible with On Target MappingÕs complete line of routing, scheduling and logistics solutions Ñ including MapEdit™, which enables the system to recognize road closures and one way restrictions on the road network.
      The desktop mapping solution includes both Drive™ and Drive PLUS™ programs from On Target Mapping. The drive time analysis software utilizes real street distance and speed to determine the region(s) surrounding one or multiple sites, and help in the selection of the best site(s) to maximize response coverage. Drive delivers realistic, accurate, quantitative site assessment on the desktop. It measures driving times from emergency response stations, as well as determines what areas are reachable within set times from a post.
      Unlike other simulations, Drive responds to the real world, allowing adjustments for road conditions, weather, time of day and vehicle type. Up to 36 variables allow the system user to create a customized, realistic representation of the site commute. One speed limit can be set for city streets and another for highways. Adjustments are also possible to account for rush hour or snowy days. Changes to the vehicle settings allow for differences between a police car and a fire engine. The system user defines the variables that affect each site. Information can then be displayed on screen or output to a printer, producing an easy-to-read map.
      ÒIn rural areas, defined by census bureau definition, PennsylvaniaÕs response requirements differ,Ó explains Price. ÒAlthough a Quick Response Service (non-transportation unit) must be on the scene within 10 minutes, a transporting Advanced Life Support Service has up to 20 minutes to respond. With Drive itÕs easy to adjust variables that allow us analyze response times in rural areas.Ó
      ÒWith Drive PLUS we recently were able to provide a list of five back-up ambulance providers for an ambulance service that changed from one dispatch center to another,Ó Price stated. ÒEMSI also uses the programs to provide technical assistance to ambulance and other rescue service providers within our region. We can assist them in determining the number of vehicles required to adequately service constituents within their area, provide incidence reports, analyze the merger of service providers, or recommend the need for additional ambulance service providers.Ó
      ÒWe utilize our desktop mapping software daily for a range of activities,Ó Price continued. ÒEverything from evaluating the ability of ambulance services to fulfill license requirements, to identifying areas under-served in emergency response coverage, to tracking locations of medical facilities like hospitals and medical command facilities, and to create a database of training program locations. EMSI is also in the early states of cataloging fire departments that provide rescue services.Ó
      ÒOne factor that complicates our ability to provide responsive EMS in our region is that some of the counties within our jurisdiction have 9-1-1 systems, while others do not,Ó says Price. ÒAllegheny County, the most populated county in our region, has not yet instituted a county-wide 9-1-1 system. The responsibility of receiving emergency calls and then dispatching ambulance services is scattered among numerous municipalities. And, because of the terrain of the county, we also are faced with the complication of mountain terrain, tunnels, rivers and the most bridges in any county in the nation. Having a desktop mapping resource is therefore critical to optimizing the placement of ambulance and other emergency or rescue stations.Ó
      ÒRight now, I am the dedicated-user of our one-user desktop mapping system. However, EMSI is currently reorganizing its staff of 13 so that five individuals will have access to the system in order to maximize its use. The software is easy-to-use and is a tremendous time-saving and efficient system in assuring that we optimize emergency responsiveness in an industry where every second counts.Ó

About the Author:
Christopher Price is a regional training coordinator with the Emergency Medical Service Institute. He may be reached at 412-351-6604.

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