Limited to the 119 Rescue Centers (formerly “Firehouses”) in Seoul, Capital of Republic of Korea, the present study was designed to divide them according to type and then to explore type-specific characteristics. In addition, the study aimed to an...
Limited to the 119 Rescue Centers (formerly “Firehouses”) in Seoul, Capital of Republic of Korea, the present study was designed to divide them according to type and then to explore type-specific characteristics. In addition, the study aimed to analyze the relationships between the type-specific characteristics and the times required for agents to arrive at the locations where fire fighting, first aid and disaster relief activities were demanded, and thus to determine the areas where fire fighting services were weak, and the reasons for such vulnerability.
Using 2007 as a base year, this study analysed 112 of 119 Rescue Centers in Seoul. In terms of method, the study established 800m as a buffer service radius, which was arrived at from the conversion of 2 ㎢, the area under jurisdiction with the 119 Rescue Center at the middle, using the GIS (Geographic Information System), and analyzed its relationships with jurisdiction zones, jurisdiction populations, dong(administrative unit)-specific populations, population densities, dispatch frequencies and highways. .
The following are the type-specific characteristics of the 119 Rescue Centers:
First, Type 1, having a distance of more than 1.6 km from the closest neighboring Center, was defined as an Independent 119 Rescue Center, and this definition was applied to 27 Centers. In terms of the current status of its jurisdiction zone, the type had higher than average (5㎢ and 90 thousand persons) levels in terms of jurisdiction area and population, respectively; were primarily located in the outskirts of Seoul, and had high levels of forests, fields, green belts and rivers in their zones of jurisdiction. 19 of these Independent 119 Rescue Centers were located near (at a distance of 300 m or less from) dongs, which had high populations, population densities and dispatch frequencies, and highways. In other words, these Independent 119 Rescue Centers were situated on the borders of their zones of jurisdiction, which had an influence on the time that was required for agents to arrive at the locations where fire fighting and first aid activities were demanded.
Second, Type 2, having a distance of 1.6 km or less from the closest neighboring Center, such that two Centers had 800 m buffers that overlapped, was defined as a Double Cluster 119 Rescue Center, and this designation was applied to 26 Centers. In terms of the current status of its jurisdiction zone, the jurisdiction areas of this type were higher than average (5㎢), were mostly located in the outskirts of Seoul, and had high levels of forests, fields, green belts and rivers in their zones of jurisdiction. A total of 19 of these Double Cluster 119 Rescue Centers were located near (at a distance of 300 m or less from) dongs, which had high levels of population, population densities and dispatch frequencies, and highways. In other words, these Double Cluster 119 Rescue Centers were focused on the borders of their jurisdiction zones, which had an influence on the time that was required for agents to arrive at the locations where fire fighting and first aid activities were demanded.
Third, Type 3, having a distance of 1.6 km or less from the closest neighboring Center, such that three Centers, one of which had a main squad, had 800 m buffers that overlapped, was defined as a Triple Cluster 119 Rescue Center, and this designation was applied to nine Centers. In terms of the current status of its jurisdiction zone, the jurisdiction populations of this type were higher than average (90 thousand persons). A total of five of these Triple Cluster 119 Rescue Centers were located near (at a distance of 300 m or less from) dongs, which had high levels of population, population densities and dispatch frequencies, and highways. In terms of arrival time, agents arrived at the locations where fire fighting, first aid and rescue activities were demanded in most dongs within five minutes.
Forth, Type 4, having a distance of 1.6 km or shorter from the closest neighboring Center, such that four Centers, one of which had a main squad, had 800 m buffers that overlapped, was defined as a Quadruple Cluster Type 119 Rescue Center, and this designation was applied to nine Centers. In terms of the current status of its jurisdiction zone, the jurisdiction areas and populations of this type were lower and higher than average, respectively. A total of four of these Quadruple Cluster Type 119 Rescue Centers were located near (at a distance of 300 m or less from) dongs, which had high levels of population, population densities and dispatch frequencies, and highways. In terms of arrival time, agents arrived at the locations where fire fighting, first aid and rescue activities were demanded in all dongs within five minutes.
Fifth, Type 5, having a distance of 1.6 km or shorter from the closest neighboring Center, such that five or more Centers, one of which was a main corps, had 800 m buffers that overlapped, was defined as a Fivefold Or More Cluster Type 119 Rescue Center, and this designation was applied to 42 Centers. In terms of the current status of its jurisdiction zone, the jurisdiction areas and populations of this type were lower and higher than average, respectively. A total of four of these Fivefold Or More Cluster Type 119 Rescue Centers were located near (at a distance of 300 m or less from) dongs, which had high levels of populations, population densities and dispatch frequencies, and highways. In terms of arrival time, agents arrived at the locations where fire fighting, first aid and rescue activities were demanded in most dongs within five minutes.
In terms of the arrival times for fire fighting and first aid activities, problems mostly occurred in the zones of jurisdiction of Type 1 and Type 2 centers. The zones of such types were characterized by the fact that 119 Rescue Centers were geographically focused on the borders of their zones of jurisdiction, despite the fact that they had spacious jurisdiction areas. This resulted in a long distance (3 km) to cover, which had an influence on the time of arrival at the locations involved. In terms of the arrival time for rescue activities, problems occurred in many of the zones in which it took more than five minutes to arrive at the spots involved that were located at short distances (within 2 km) from competent centers. Such problem was particularly striking in Gangnam-gu, Gangbuk-gu and Seongdong-gu (gu is an administrative unit that is higher than dong). This was found to be because Gangnam-gu is located at a long distance from the Samsung 119 Rescue Center that has a main squad, and Ganbuk-gu and Seongdong-gu had no center with a main squad in their own administrative zones.
In conclusion, it took more than five minutes for agents to arrive at the spots involved for fire fighting, first aid and disaster relief activities in 15 dongs, 16 dongs and as many as 58 dongs, respectively. This shows that disaster relief activities were vulnerable, as compared to fire fighting and first aid activities. In particular, Gangbuk-gu, Seongdong-gu and Geumcheon-gu, having no main squad, turned out to be vulnerable compared to other zones.