Question

ER Diversion (Q8 – Q12)

The local hospital’s emergency department has 6 trauma bays. On average, patients requiring a trauma bay arrive every 30 minutes (with a coefficient of variation of 1). If the hospital has an available trauma bay, it is immediately allocated to a needy patient. If there are no trauma bays available, the patient is sent to another hospital. On average, a patient’s length of stay in a trauma bay is 1.5 hours (with a standard deviation of 1.5 hours). The hospital’s emergency department operates 24 hours a day.

Q8. What percentage of the patients requiring trauma bays end up being sent to another hospital? (Write your answer in %, that is, if your answer is 22.6%, write 22.6 as you answer.)

Q9. How many patients are treated in the trauma bays of this hospital on an average 24 hour day?

Q10. When a patient is sent to another hospital, the hospital has to put a staff with adequate skills to guarantee the patient’s life, which costs the hospital $200 per patient sent. What is the average daily cost (in $) for the hospital from patients that are being sent to other hospitals?

Q11. New state regulations require that every emergency department be able to accommodate at least 97% of all patients needing a trauma bay without any waiting. What is the minimum number of trauma bays necessary to meet this requirement? (Assume that the time spent in the trauma bay cannot be changed)

Answer 1