biostudies-literatureUnknown14(4)van den Berg PL<h4>Background</h4>Ambulance services play a crucial role in providing pre-hospital emergency care. In order to ensure quick responses, the location of the bases, and the distribution of available ambulances among these bases, should be optimized. In mixed urban-rural areas, this optimization typically involves a trade-off between backup coverage in high-demand urban areas and single coverage in rural low-demand areas. The aim of this study was to find the optimal distribution of bases and ambulances in the Vestfold region of Norway in order to optimize ambulance coverage.<h4>Method</h4>The optimal location of bases and distribution of ambulances was estimated using the Maximum Expected Covering Location Model. A wide range of parameter settings were fitted, with the number of ambulances rPloS onee0215385https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC6461285biostudies-literatureImproving ambulance coverage in a mixed urban-rural region in Norway using mathematical modeling.PMC6461285van den Berg PLEinerkjær JFiskerstrand PAardal KRoislien JThoresen TfalseImproving ambulance coverage in a mixed urban-rural region in Norway using mathematical modeling.<h4>Background</h4>Ambulance services play a crucial role in providing pre-hospital emergency care. In order to ensure quick responses, the location of the bases, and the distribution of available ambulances among these bases, should be optimized. In mixed urban-rural areas, this optimization typically involves a trade-off between backup coverage in high-demand urban areas and single coverage in rural low-demand areas. The aim of this study was to find the optimal distribution of bases and ambulances in the Vestfold region of Norway in order to optimize ambulance coverage.<h4>Method</h4>The optimal location of bases and distribution of ambulances was estimated using the Maximum Expected Covering Location Model. A wide range of parameter settings were fitted, with the number of ambulances r2019-01-01T00:00:00Z20192025-04-22T17:19:56.239Z2019-06-06T23:05:43ZS-EPMC64612853097826410.1371/journal.pone.0215385