"Catch the Golden Time" 5G-Based AI Emergency Medical System, Pilot Testing Begins in Seoul and Goyang

[Asia Economy Reporter Seol Gina Jo] On the 26th, a 5G-based artificial intelligence (AI) emergency medical system developed through the collaboration of Yonsei University Medical Center and 20 institutions was introduced to emergency sites and began demonstration.

The 5G-based AI emergency medical system is an intelligent emergency medical system that assists in pre-hospital transfer and emergency treatment of critically ill emergency patients. It is being piloted with 36 119 ambulances and 9 emergency medical institutions in the northwest three districts of Seoul (Seodaemun, Mapo, Eunpyeong) and Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province.

The Ministry of Science and ICT held a demonstration commencement ceremony for the 5G-based AI emergency medical system developed by the Yonsei Medical Center consortium at the Baekyangnuri Grand Ballroom of Yonsei University on the same day.

At the ceremony, the development achievements of the intelligent emergency medical system were presented along with the demonstration plan to be conducted until the end of the year in the northwest three districts of Seoul and Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province. A scenario assuming the occurrence of a cardiovascular disease patient was reenacted, showing emergency treatment inside an ambulance equipped with the intelligent emergency medical system, selection of an emergency medical center, and the optimal transfer route process.

The emergency medical system collects real-time voice, video, and biometric signals of critically ill emergency patients inside the ambulance and transmits them via the 5G network to a cloud-based integrated emergency medical analysis platform. Based on this, the platform immediately classifies the severity of the emergency patient, suggests standard treatment manuals, automatically creates ambulance activity logs, selects appropriate hospitals for treatment, and provides optimal transfer routes. Additionally, the situation inside the ambulance is transmitted in real-time video to the medical staff at the emergency medical center, enabling them to check the patient's condition and prepare optimal treatment.

Although South Korea's emergency medical system is rapidly developing, the transfer rate of critically ill emergency patients remains higher than that of advanced countries, and 119 paramedics responsible for emergency treatment and patient transfer face many limitations. The Ministry of Science and ICT expects that as the intelligent emergency medical system is deployed in actual emergency sites and produces visible results as a representative project of digital government innovation, it will significantly improve the current emergency medical system. They plan to seek nationwide expansion in cooperation with related ministries.

Cho Kyung-sik, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, “I hope the intelligent emergency medical system will be completed as a system that the public can trust through demonstration,” and requested continuous interest and cooperation from local governments and related organizations in the demonstration areas. He also stated, “As digital transformation in the medical field is accelerating through the Digital New Deal, we will actively support the nationwide expansion of the intelligent emergency medical system along with Doctor Answer and cloud hospital information systems so that the public can feel the benefits more quickly.”

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