J Agric Med Community Health.
2012 Jun;37(2):76-83.
The Analysis of Underserved Emergency Medical Services Areas in Daejeon Metropolitan City Using a Geographic Information System
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Public Health, The Graduate School of Konyang University, Korea.
- 2Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, College of Medicine, Konyang University, Korea. skqw@konyang.ac.kr
- 3Department of Geoenvironmental Sciences, Kongju National University, Korea.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study was to define the underserved emergency medical services (EMS) areas in Daejeon metropolitan city, as well as to identify their distinctive characteristics in public health perspectives.
METHODS
An underserved EMS area was operationally defined as an area in which it is difficult to arrive at an emergency medical center within 30 minutes. Using a cost-weighted distance algorithm with a geographic information system (GIS), the underserved EMS area was calculated. The characteristics of the underserved areas were analyzed by the Chi-square test. The SPSS statistical software package was used to perform the statistical analysis. All statistical tests were two-sided, and a p-value<0.05 was considered statistically significant.
RESULTS
Twelve administrative sectors ('Dong' in Korean) were included in the underserved areas, accounting for a population of approximately 8,100 citizens. The relationships between underserved EMS area and populations of agriculture, fishery, and forestry; citizens who are recipients of national basic livelihood security program; disabled; or aged 65 or older were statistically significant.
CONCLUSION
It was found that 12 administrative sectors were included in the underserved EMS areas. Revealing underserved EMS areas using GIS analysis based on a cost-weighted distance algorithm of road data was an effective analytic method. However, as this study was confined to Daejeon City, South Korea, a nation-wide study should be performed to provide a more accurate conclusion.
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