title: Optimal installation locations for automated external defibrillators in Taipei 7-Eleven stores: using GIS and a genetic algorithm with a new stirring operator.
abstract: Immediate treatment with an automated external defibrillator (AED) increases out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patient survival potential. While considerable attention has been given to determining optimal public AED locations, spatial and temporal factors such as time of day and distance from emergency medical services (EMSs) are understudied. Here we describe a geocomputational genetic algorithm with a new stirring operator (GANSO) that considers spatial and temporal cardiac arrest occurrence factors when assessing the feasibility of using Taipei 7-Eleven stores as installation locations for AEDs. Our model is based on two AED conveyance modes, walking/running and driving, involving service distances of 100 and 300 meters, respectively. Our results suggest different AED allocation strategies involving convenience stores in urban settings. In commercial areas, such installations can compensate for temporal gaps in EMS locations when responding to nighttime OHCA incidents. In residential areas, store installations can compensate for long distances from fire stations, where AEDs are currently held in Taipei.
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen Hwa 1st Road, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chung-Yuan
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8680-6755
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan ; Infectious Disease Research and Education Center (DOH-NTU), No. 17, Hsu-Chu Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tzai-Hung
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Wen
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D002947:Cities; D003132:Commerce; D047548:Defibrillators; D004554:Electric Countershock; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D005843:Geography; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D058687:Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest / Q000628:therapy*; D013624:Taiwan; D014505:Urban Population