Hospital Practices and Research

Simulation of a Hospital Emergency Department in COVID-19 Conditions: A Case Study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Hassan Rashidi 1
Zahra Rashidi 2
Zeynab Rashidi 3

1 Department of Computer Science, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Computer Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran

3 Department of Instructional Technology, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.30491/hpr.2025.462117.1431
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 virus has created many problems for human beings in the real world, particularly in the health sector. One of the issues is in emergency hospitals, which are vital pillars of the healthcare system in every country. Providing timely treatment and access to healthcare facilities is a major problem in developing countries.
Objectives: The aim of the study was to simulate a hospital emergency department under COVID-19 conditions.
Methods: This study simulates the operations of an emergency department in a hospital under COVID-19 conditions as a case study in Iran. This study considers several assumptions about hospital facilities, including doctors, nurses, and patients. The patients are divided into two categories: some require immediate examination, while others wait in line for appropriate services.
Results: A flow diagram for the department is provided and converted into a model, which is implemented using GPSS software. The model is then run multiple times, and the outputs are collected. The outputs of the simulation and their statistical distributions are analyzed, and the performance of various statistical tests is examined. Finally, recommendations for improving the performance of the emergency system are presented.
Conclusion: The findings of this study can be used as the first step in preparing this tool. Accordingly, this study was conducted to identify existing and valid tools for measuring hospital readiness against the COVID-19 virus, translate those tools, and compare them.

Keywords

Simulation
COVID-19
Emergency
Hospital
Modeling
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Hospital Practices and Research
Volume 9, Issue 3 - Serial Number 35
Summer 2024
Pages 501-514

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