Emergency Departments (EDs) overcrowding is a well recognized worldwide phenomenon. The consequences range from long waiting times for visits and treatment of patients up to life-threatening health conditions. The international community is devoting greater and greater efforts to analyze this phenomenon aiming at reducing waiting times, improving the quality of the service. Within this framework, we propose a Discrete Event Simulation (DES) model to study the patient flows through a medium-size ED located in a region of Central Italy recently hit by a severe earthquake. In particular, our aim is to simulate unusual ED conditions, corresponding to critical events (like a natural disaster) that cause a sudden spike in the number of patient arrivals. The availability of detailed data concerning the ED processes enabled to build an accurate DES model and to perform extensive scenario analyses. The model provides a valid decision support system for the ED managers also in defining specific emergency plans to be activated in case of mass casualty disasters.

翻译：紧急部门(EDs)过度拥挤是一个众所周知的世界性现象,其后果从病人长期等待探视和治疗的时间到危及生命的健康状况不等。国际社会正在作出更大和更大的努力来分析这一现象,目的是减少等候时间,提高服务质量。在这个框架内,我们提议了一个分辨事件模拟模型,研究病人通过最近遭受严重地震袭击的意大利中部地区中等规模的ED流转的情况。特别是,我们的目的是模拟异常的ED条件,与导致病人抵达人数突然增加的危急事件(如自然灾害)相对应。关于ED过程的详细数据能够建立准确的DES模式并进行广泛的情景分析。该模型为ED管理人员提供了一个有效的决策支持系统,以便确定在发生大规模伤亡灾害时将启动的具体应急计划。