Seoul City Expands Running ICU 'Special Ambulances' to 2 Units... Dedicated Transport for Gangbuk and Gangnam Areas

City to Add One More Special Ambulance; Operating Two Units from March to Strengthen SMICU

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 25th that it will expand the ‘Seoul Severe Emergency Patient Public Transport System (SMICU)’ ambulance, which has been active as a ‘mobile intensive care unit,’ from one vehicle to two, and fully staff 15 medical personnel including specialists, nurses, and emergency medical technicians to operate two dedicated teams responsible for the Gangbuk and Gangnam areas respectively starting in March.

SMICU is a ‘special ambulance transport service’ equipped with the same equipment as an intensive care unit for severe emergency patients whose condition may worsen during ambulance transport. A team consisting of an emergency medicine specialist, nurse, and level 1 emergency medical technician rides together to provide treatment. It was first implemented nationwide in 2016 through cooperation between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul National University Hospital, and safely transported over 4,200 severe emergency patients over five years until 2020.

To enable SMICU to respond more quickly and frequently, the city added one more SMICU special ambulance vehicle in December last year. It also secured all 15 medical personnel including emergency medicine specialists, nurses, and emergency medical technicians who will accompany the vehicle to treat severe emergency patients.

The city plans to officially operate the new special ambulance starting from the 2nd of next month and expand SMICU to two teams. Each team will be responsible for the Gangnam and Gangbuk areas respectively, ensuring safe transport, with a goal of transporting more than 1,460 severe emergency patients annually (more than 4 cases per day).

Meanwhile, the use of SMICU has been analyzed to have the effect of reducing mortality after patient transfer. A 2018 analysis of the impact of SMICU use on ‘patient mortality within 24 hours after transfer’ showed a 73% reduction in emergency room mortality and a 22% reduction in 24-hour in-hospital mortality.

With the expansion to two SMICU teams, Seoul plans to strengthen the ‘Seoul Severe Trauma Care System’ by ensuring that severe trauma patients can be safely transported within the golden hour to the four final severe trauma treatment centers in Seoul (Korea University Guro Hospital, Korea University Anam Hospital, National Medical Center, Seoul National University Hospital). On the 12th of next month, the city will hold the ‘Seoul Severe Patient Transport Service (SMICU) Symposium’ to discuss ‘SMICU operational achievements and expansion plans.’

Park Yumi, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Citizen Health Bureau, said, "With the operation of two SMICU teams, we expect to ultimately improve survival rates by strengthening appropriate treatment support for severe emergency patients transferred between hospitals in the Gangbuk and Gangnam areas."

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