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2025 Vol.18, Issue 3 Preview Page

Original Article

Geospatial Characteristics of Medically Underserved Areas in Terms of Accessibility: A Case Study of Dogye-eup

접근성을 기준으로 살펴본 지리적 의료 취약지 특성 분석: 도계지역을 중심으로

Min-Seo Park1
,
Ji-Yun Lim1
,
Yong-Seon Kim1
,
Yee-Un Hwang1
,
Jae-Kwang Ahn2*
박 민서1
,
임 지윤1
,
김 용선1
,
황 예은1
,
안 재광2*
1Student, Department of Fire and Emergency Management, Kangwon National University
2Assistant Professor, Department of Fire and Emergency Management, Kangwon National University
1강원대학교 재난관리공학전공 학부생
2강원대학교 재난관리공학전공 조교수
*Corresponding Author
30 September 2025. pp. 43-53
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Abstract

In March 2025, a heavy snowstorm and avalanche in the Dogye-eup Gangwon-do led to the isolation of numerous students at a campus located approximately 800 meters above sea level. Although no casualties were reported, the incident revealed the structural vulnerability of the area in terms of its limited capacity to respond swiftly to emergency situations. This case raises critical concerns about how the region could respond to future emergencies from the perspective of medical accessibility. Currently, the designation criteria for medically underserved areas rely mainly on medical infrastructure and population statistics, which fail to capture the geospatial characteristics of each region. Therefore, we perform the focusing of the potential to secure the “golden hour” in emergency medical care by analyzing differences in medical accessibility based on geospatial characteristics and traffic conditions. Our findings reveal that even regions with similar levels of medical infrastructure exhibit significant differences in golden hour accessibility depending on the density of road networks and proximity to urban centers. Moreover, these disparities are difficult to identify using county-level statistics alone, highlighting the need for more granular spatial analysis at the town-level. We emphasize the necessity of incorporating geographic and transportation characteristics into tailored, region-specific policy frameworks for identifying and addressing medical vulnerability. The results are expected to serve as a foundation for improving emergency medical response systems and eliminating blind spots in healthcare access.

Keywords
Medically underserved areas
Geographic risks
Golden hour
Emergency medical
Medical accessibility

2025년 3월 강원도 도계지역에서는 폭설과 눈사태로 인해 해발고도 약 800 m에 위치한 캠퍼스에 다수의 학생이 고립되는 사고가 발생하였다. 다행히 인명 피해는 없었으나, 이 사건은 도계지역이 응급 상황 발생 시 신속한 대응이 어려운 구조적 취약성을 지니고 있음을 드러냈다. 이는 해당 지역에 응급 상황 발생 시 의료 접근성 관점에서 재조명이 필요함을 시사하였다. 그러나 현재 의료 취약지의 기준은 주로 의료 인프라와 인구 통계 중심이기에 지역적 특성은 제대로 반영되지 못하고 있다. 이에 본 연구는 응급의료 ‘골든타임’ 확보 가능성을 중심으로, 지형적 요인과 교통망 조건에 따른 의료 접근성의 구조적 차이를 분석하였다. 분석 결과, 유사한 의료 인프라 수준을 가진 지역이라도 교통망의 밀도와 인접 도시와의 연결성에 따라 골든타임 확보 수준에 큰 차이를 보이는 것으로 나타났다. 특히, 이러한 차이는 시군구 단위 통계만으로는 파악하기 어려운 점이 드러났으며, 읍면동 수준의 공간적 분석이 의료취약성 진단에 실효성이 있음을 확인하였다. 따라서 본 연구는 의료 취약지에 대한 점검 시 지리적 특성을 반영한 지역 맞춤형 정책 수립의 필요성을 강조하며, 향후 의료 사각지 해소에 활용되기를 기대한다.

키워드
의료 취약지
지리적 위험
골든타임
응급의료
의료 접근성
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Information
  • Publisher :Korean Society of Disaster and Security
  • Publisher(Ko) :한국방재안전학회
  • Journal Title :Journal of Korean Society of Disaster and Security
  • Journal Title(Ko) :한국방재안전학회 논문집
  • Volume : 18
  • No :3
  • Pages :43-53
  • Received Date : 2025-07-10
  • Revised Date : 2025-07-27
  • Accepted Date : 2025-09-01
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.21729/ksds.2025.18.3.43
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