Gyeonggi-do Doctor Helicopter 'Corona Suffering' Heads to Daegu and Gyeongbuk

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung (right) and Professor Lee Guk-jong of Ajou University Hospital are warmly shaking hands in front of the doctor helicopter.

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi-do's emergency medical exclusive doctor helicopter will be dispatched to the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, which are struggling with the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

The Gyeonggi-do doctor helicopter is a medical-dedicated helicopter operated for the rapid air transport and emergency treatment of emergency patients, known as a "flying emergency room." Gyeonggi-do is the first in the nation to introduce a doctor helicopter that operates 24 hours a day.

According to Gyeonggi-do on the 5th, Governor Lee Jae-myung of Gyeonggi-do and Professor Lee Guk-jong of Ajou University Hospital agreed on the 29th of last month to operate the doctor helicopter specially between Gyeonggi-do and Daegu-Gyeongbuk to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.

The doctor helicopter will prioritize transporting COVID-19 patients from the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions and, if necessary, also transport trauma patients to within the province.

To this end, the province will equip the doctor helicopter with electric personal protective equipment for infection control of medical staff and helicopter disinfection equipment.

The special operation will be temporary until the securing of hospital beds in medical institutions in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions stabilizes.

Due to the doctor helicopter's operation in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, the transport of severe trauma patients within the province, which may be left unattended, will be handled by fire department helicopters.

Since August last year, the province has jointly introduced and operated the doctor helicopter with Ajou University Hospital.

However, after a helicopter belonging to the Central 119 Rescue Headquarters crashed near Dokdo on October 31 last year, the Gyeonggi-do doctor helicopter of the same model underwent an emergency safety inspection by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The inspection results showed no abnormalities.

Medical staff at the Gyeonggi Southern Regional Trauma Center, including Professor Lee Guk-jong, also complained of manpower shortages and did not board the doctor helicopter, so it had not been operated until now.

Ajou University Hospital recently decided to hire additional medical staff, including five doctors and eight nurses, and expects to improve the manpower shortage issue. After internal discussions, they decided to resume the operation of the doctor helicopter.

The Gyeonggi-do doctor helicopter, which had been grounded for three months, resumed operation on the 1st of this month after a complicated decision was made on the 29th of last month, transporting a trauma patient from Pyeongtaek.

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