The American College of Surgeons has developed criteria for determining operating room standards in the United States. Level I and II trauma centers are required to have in- house operating room (OR) staff 24 hours per day. So a base level of a single OR team available 24 hours a day is mandatory. During normal business hours, a hospital will typically have additional OR teams available since surgery is scheduled during these times and these additional teams can be used in an emergency. An important decision, though, must be made concerning the availability of a backup team during the evening hours.
1 Calculate the average customer arrival rate and service rate per hour.
2 Calculate the probability of zero patients in the sys-tem (P0), probability of one patient (P1), and the probability of two or more patients simultaneously arriving during the night shift.
3 Using a criterion that if the probability is greater than 1 percent, a backup OR team should be employed, make a recommendation to hospital administration.