Electric Ambulance Routing Based on Heuristic Cost-Based Planners in Pandemic Situations

Ambulances management plays a critical role for the proper performance of medical health systems during pandemic situations, such as the COVID-19, so an optimized routing planning to attend patient calls is crucial. Electric ambulances offer the advantage of improving air quality in smart cities by reducing the emission of pollutants and greenhouse gases. Besides, electric ambulances are more economical than fuel-powered ambulances. This paper develops a numerical planning model to solve the electric ambulances routing problem using a numerical planner, with the aim of attending the maximum number of patients in the shortest possible time and also optimizing the energy management of electric ambulances. Moreover, the proposed model also considers the vehicle disinfection time required during pandemic situations.