Manpower Deployment in Emergency Services

In order to adequately respond to emergencies, it is necessary to maintain a sufficient level of personnel as well as geographic coverage. Planning for geographic and manpower coverage can involve a wide variety of factors, including union restrictions, frequency and spatial distribution of calls, and road network accessibility. The focus of this paper is on manpower deployment across such agencies as police, fire, and EMS. Since the cost of manpower is the single largest cost factor in providing such services, it is also one of the central elements in efficient service provision. This paper discusses some of the differences in manpower planning among the different emergency services. It also presents details associated with several special models that have been developed in police and EMS planning in order to efficiently deploy manpower throughout each week. We conclude with comments on future needs for research and development in deployment planning and operations.