Study I · Manuscript
Dispatcher work under scarcity: allocation decisions in real time
Study I investigates how emergency medical dispatchers manage competing calls when demand exceeds available EMS resources. The focus is on prioritisation, re-prioritisation, and how uncertainty is handled during time-critical decision-making.
Research question
How do dispatchers prioritise and coordinate EMS allocation when multiple incidents compete for limited units, and what trade-offs are made to maintain the patient safety net?
Why this matters
Dispatch decisions shape who waits, for how long, and under what conditions. Study I provides practice-based insight that helps interpret distributional response-time patterns and the real-world production of safety under scarcity.
Adaptive EMS Allocation 