A Novel Emergency Vehicle Dispatching System

Chen, Chia-Ying; Chen, Po-Yu; Chen, Wen-Tsuen · 2013 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1109/vtcspring.2013.6691836

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (DOI — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This paper addresses the critical problem of reducing emergency response times for vehicles such as ambulances, fire engines, and police cars. The authors identify that existing dispatching systems rely heavily on manual assignments and personal judgment, which often leads to suboptimal decisions and unnecessary delays. Furthermore, traditional methods of alerting non-emergency vehicles (DNEVCs) using sirens and lights are ineffective due to signal obstruction and driver confusion, particularly during rush hour traffic. To mitigate these issues, the study proposes a novel, automated emergency vehicle dispatching system that integrates automatic resource assignment, dynamic path planning, and a lane reservation scheme to minimize travel time and crash risks. The proposed system comprises three main components: emergency resource assignment, path planning, and lane reservation. For resource assignment, the system automatically selects the nearest and fastest available emergency vehicles and suitable hospitals based on predicted travel times, expanding the search radius if necessary. Path planning utilizes a modified Dijkstra’s algorithm where edge costs are determined by estimated travel times rather than distance. These estimates are derived from a combination of current and historical traffic data collected via Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and Road Side Units (RSUs). The lane reservation scheme involves RSUs broadcasting warning messages to DNEVCs before an emergency vehicle arrives at a specific road segment. This notification timing is calculated to allow drivers sufficient time to switch lanes or adjust speed, thereby clearing the innermost lane for the emergency vehicle. The system was evaluated using a C++ traffic simulator modeling a 10km × 10km urban area with various congestion rates. The authors compared their approach against a standard shortest-path method, a hybrid approach (shortest path with lane reservation), and an emergency path approach (time-based path with lane reservation). Simulation results demonstrated that the proposed system significantly reduced traveling time compared to the shortest-path approach. Specifically, the proposed method ensured that total traveling time remained less than 30% of the shortest-path time, even when the congestion rate reached 70%. Additionally, the average speed of emergency vehicles using the proposed system remained above 30 km/hr under high congestion, outperforming all other tested approaches. The significance of this work lies in its comprehensive approach to emergency management, addressing both dispatching logic and real-time traffic interaction. By automating resource assignment and proactively managing traffic flow through lane reservations, the system reduces reliance on human judgment and improves the reliability of emergency responses. The authors conclude that this approach enhances the probability of rescuing lives and property in time. Future work is suggested to address more severe scenarios involving large-scale disasters and to integrate the system into practical social infrastructure.

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed.

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• emergency work zone conspicuity