Seongbuk District Secures 24/7 Dedicated Psychiatric Emergency Bed, Builds Safety Net

Agreement Signed with Three Other Organizations, Including Mentos Hospital

Seoul's Seongbuk District is setting up dedicated beds for the district to reduce situations in which police officers and firefighters are tied up at the scene because no bed can be found for psychiatric emergency patients who pose a high risk of self-harm or harming others.

Seongbuk District Mayor Lee Seungro (fourth from right) poses for a commemorative photo with officials from Seongbuk and Jongam police stations, Seongbuk Fire Station, and Mentos Hospital after signing an MOU to establish a mental health emergency response system at the mayor's office on the 14th. Provided by Seongbuk District.

Seongbuk District, led by Mayor Lee Seung-ro, announced on October 19 that it will launch a project next year to operate a public hospital for psychiatric emergencies with beds dedicated to the district. To that end, the district signed an agreement on establishing a psychiatric emergency response system with Seongbuk Police Station, Jongam Police Station, Seongbuk Fire Station, and Mentos Hospital at the district mayor's office on October 14.

Until now, it has often been difficult to find beds for emergency hospitalization at night or on public holidays, leaving first responders waiting for long periods or requiring patients to be transported to other districts. Under the agreement, the district will designate Mentos Hospital as a dedicated psychiatric emergency medical institution and, starting next year, operate one psychiatric emergency hospitalization bed exclusively for such patients 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The district plans to use this arrangement to preserve the golden hour in emergencies and minimize gaps in public safety and emergency response coverage for police and firefighters.

“This project to secure dedicated beds will allow us to protect high-risk psychiatric emergency patients in time and provide treatment promptly,” Mayor Lee said. “We will prevent gaps in public safety and emergency response coverage for first responders while building a robust community welfare and public health safety net to thoroughly protect residents' lives and safety.”

Meanwhile, the Seongbuk District Public Health Center provides mental health counseling, identifies high-risk individuals, and runs educational programs through its Mental Health Welfare Center (02-2241-6314) and Suicide Prevention Center (02-916-9119).

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