Nationwide Overhaul of Emergency Patient Transport System Accelerates... Daejeon and Chungcheong Establish Regional Response Network

Ministry of Health and Welfare Holds Meeting to Review Transport Guidelines in Daejeon and Chungcheong Regions
Nationwide Revision of Guidelines to Be Completed by September

As the government expands the overhaul of the emergency patient transport system nationwide to reduce delays in admission to emergency rooms, a new transport system will be established in Daejeon, Sejong, North Chungcheong, and South Chungcheong, centered on regional emergency control centers.

Yonhap News

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that on August 10, Second Vice Minister Lee Hyunhoon visited Chungnam National University Hospital to inspect the current status of emergency patient transport system improvements in Daejeon, Sejong, North Chungcheong, and South Chungcheong. He also held a meeting with emergency medical staff and 119 paramedics.

This meeting is a follow-up measure aimed at expanding the "Emergency Transport System Innovation Pilot Project," which was implemented in Gwangju, North Jeolla, and South Jeolla from March to May this year, to the entire country.

The Daejeon and Chungcheong region is preparing a system that responds to delays in transporting critically ill emergency patients in the order of 119 paramedics → emergency control center → regional emergency control center. In the southern region, Daejeon will serve as the hub for proactively accepting critically ill patients, while Cheonan will play this role in the northern region. North Chungcheong has also established a new wide-area cooperation system that connects with Andong in North Gyeongsang, taking into account the distribution and accessibility of medical institutions.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare is checking to ensure that all 16 cities and provinces across the country complete revisions of their transport guidelines in accordance with local conditions by next month. Currently, Busan, Daegu, Ulsan, and North Gyeongsang have completed revisions and are applying the updated guidelines in the field.

Busan has reflected its sequential treatment system for acute poisoning emergencies—the first of its kind in the country—and its regional trauma system in its guidelines, providing a more disease-specific response. Daegu has started operating an ultra-wide-area transport system using its regional emergency control center. Ulsan and North Gyeongsang have designated priority hospitals for critically ill emergency patients by utilizing their emergency control centers in the event of transport delays. They have also improved the helicopter operation system for long-distance transports.

In addition, Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Daejeon, Sejong, North Chungcheong, South Chungcheong, South Gyeongsang, and Jeju are establishing multi-stage transport systems centered on emergency control centers, and most regions are scheduled to finalize their guidelines sometime this month.

Second Vice Minister Lee Hyunhoon stated, "The key to expanding this pilot project is to develop transport guidelines that actually work in the field, based on cooperation between emergency medical staff and 119 paramedics," and urged, "Please thoroughly refine the system so that there are no cases where emergency patients are unable to find an emergency room."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.