A spatially distributed queuing model considering dispatching policies with server reservation

•This paper presents a cutoff hypercube queuing model.•The study was inspired by the dispatching policies of French SAMU’s.•Cutoff policy particularities and associated output measures are described.•Computational results applying the model to illustrative examples are analyzed.•Relevant system performance measures can be obtained by this approach.

In this paper we propose a cutoff hypercube queuing model to analyze server-to-customer emergency services operating with server reservation. We are motivated by certain SAMU’s (Système d’Aide Médicale Urgente) that give assistance to different classes of emergency requests, including specialized transfer of patients, and use the reservation strategy to improve the probability that ambulances will be available to high priority calls. The aim is to show how this cutoff priority service discipline can be handled by the cutoff hypercube queuing model to evaluate relevant system performance measures, and the main impacts of this policy to the different classes of users.