Table 1 Notations used in this study

Index

h

Index of experts

m

Index of response actions (alternatives) (m = 1, 2, …, M)

n

Index of outcomes (n = 1, 2, …, N)

k

Index of attributes (k = 1, 2, …, K)

Parameter

H

Number of experts

M

Number of response actions (alternatives)

N

Number of possible outcomes in terms of different responses

K

Number of attributes considered in the medical emergency problem

E_hk

Reference point value of expert E_h regarding criterion k

R_hk

Normalized reference point value of expert E_h regarding criterion k

\(\overline{R}_{k}\)

Mean reference point value regarding criterion k

r_k

Collective reference point value regarding criterion k

x_mnk

kth attribute value with respect to the nth outcome of the mth action

z_mnk

Corresponding gain or loss regarding each value

v_mnk

Normalized gain or loss regarding each value

Set

E

Group of experts

A

Set of all feasible response actions in a medical emergency

P

Vector of probabilities with respect to various outcomes