Gyeongnam Province Adds 'Negative Pressure Special Ambulances' to Health Centers in 11 Cities and Counties

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Kang Woo-kwon] Gyeongsangnam-do announced on the 14th that it will additionally deploy 11 negative pressure special ambulances to 11 city and county health centers including Changwon (Changwon and Jinhae), Jinju, Gimhae, Miryang, Geoje, Yangsan, Uiryeong, Goseong, Namhae, and Geochang in the first half of this year to respond to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). The province secured 2.2 billion KRW in national funds for this purpose.

The negative pressure special ambulance is a special vehicle equipped with ambulance equipment, a negative pressure device, and filtering devices installed in a medium-sized van, used to transport confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients to health center screening clinics or hospitals.

By lowering the pressure in the patient compartment inside the ambulance to prevent the spread of the virus and purifying the air through a separate filtering device, it is specially designed to ensure the safe transport of infectious disease patients and prevent secondary infection of the medical staff during transport. The price is about 200 million KRW per unit, approximately three times more expensive than a regular ambulance.

Currently, Gyeongsangnam-do owns three negative pressure special ambulances: one at Samsung Changwon Hospital, one at Yangsan Busan National University Hospital, and one at Jinju Gyeongsang National University Hospital. Among these, the negative pressure special ambulance at Gyeongsang National University Hospital was relocated to Jinju City Health Center in February to respond efficiently to COVID-19 and is currently in use.

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