In the Past 3 Years, 119 Ambulance Teams Dispatched Every Minute, Transporting 884 Patients Daily

Seoul Comprehensive Disaster Prevention Center Receives an Average of 2.06 Million 119 Emergency Calls Annually, with Ambulance Calls Being the Most Frequent
Rescue Activities Occur Most Often at Homes, in August, and on Thursdays

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] It has been revealed that over the past three years, 119 emergency medical teams have transported an average of 884 people per day after responding to incidents on-site. This equates to one dispatch every minute.

According to officials from the Fire and Disaster Headquarters on the 18th, the number of reports received by the Seoul Comprehensive Disaster Prevention Center over the past three years was 2,209,342 in 2018, 2,056,736 in 2019, and 1,931,834 in 2020. In particular, the on-site activities of the 119 emergency medical teams were recorded as 559,519 cases in 2018, 532,339 in 2019, and 477,963 in 2020. This means that 3.9 reports were received per minute, with one dispatch per minute.

Over the past three years, by type of emergency medical activity, acute and chronic diseases accounted for the largest number at 647,454 cases (66.8%), followed by falls at 146,249 cases (15.1%), and traffic accidents at 88,120 cases (9.1%). The highest number of transports by emergency teams occurred in July, followed by August and January. A representative from the Seoul Fire and Disaster Headquarters explained, “In July and August, when the heatwave begins, vulnerable groups such as the elderly and chronic patients need to take precautions for their health and safety.”

Response activities at rescue sites were 159,846 cases in 2018, 150,076 in 2019, and 143,850 in 2020. The 119 rescue teams averaged 151,257 cases annually and 414 cases daily. By type, daily safety incidents were the most frequent at 173,382 cases, followed by elevator incidents at 22,599 cases, traffic accidents at 17,965 cases, and mountain accidents at 4,389 cases.

Additionally, over the past three years, daily safety rescue activities averaged 158 cases per day, accounting for 38.2% of all rescue dispatches. Throughout the year, daily safety response activities occurred most frequently from July to September. The number of fires in Seoul over the past three years was 6,368 in 2018, 5,881 in 2019, and 5,088 in 2020. The rate of fire trucks arriving on scene within five minutes was 90.6% in 2018, 88.8% in 2019, and 92.4% in 2020, averaging over 90%.

Choi Tae-young, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters, stated, “The top priority of the fire department is to quickly rescue citizens in crisis situations,” and added, “Seoul Fire will do its best to always be a reliable safety pillar alongside the citizens.”

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