The time needed to select medical facilities and transport emergency patients has been significantly reduced in three cities and provinces where an "emergency patient transport system innovation pilot project" was implemented, officials said. No cases of emergency room rejection occurred during the three-month pilot period.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Fire Agency announced the pilot project's results Monday. Jointly pursued by the ministry and the fire agency to make efficient use of limited emergency medical resources and prevent delays in emergency room transport, the project was carried out from March to May in three regions: Gwangju Metropolitan City, Jeonbuk State, and South Jeolla Province.
Across the three regions, the selection of transport hospitals through regional situation rooms averaged just five cases per month last year, but rose to 41 cases during the pilot period.
Paramedics' on-scene dwell time was cut to 16 minutes and 6 seconds in Gwangju, a reduction of 1 minute and 24 seconds, and to 12 minutes and 54 seconds in Jeonbuk, down 24 seconds. In South Jeolla, the time increased by 18 seconds to 13 minutes, though it remained shorter than in other cities and provinces. In particular, the average daily number of deaths among severely ill patients fell to 7.1 in May this year from 8.3 last year, while no cases of emergency room rejection occurred.
The ministry plans to expand the pilot project nationwide within September. Each city and province will reorganize its transport guidelines, taking into account the pilot project's results and regional characteristics.
"As we conclude this pilot project, we can now envision the full completion of a policy package encompassing the entire emergency medical process, so that wherever one lives in the Republic of Korea, final treatment can be received within the 'golden time,'" Health and Welfare Minister Jung Eun-kyeong said. Choi Yong-chul, acting commissioner of the National Fire Agency, stressed, "In line with the nationwide expansion of the pilot project, we will work closely with city and provincial fire headquarters, local government health bureaus, and regional emergency medical institutions to reorganize regional transport guidelines, and actively cooperate to ensure that emergency patients are promptly transported to appropriate hospitals."
