Fire Agency Prepares Ski Resort Safety Measures for a Safe Winter

Strengthening Response Capabilities for Lift Failures and Isolation Accidents

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The National Fire Agency announced on the 18th that it will prepare rescue measures to prevent safety accidents caused by ski lift malfunctions, anticipating a large number of visitors to ski resorts during the Lunar New Year holiday.

According to data from the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, there are a total of 122 lifts installed at 19 ski resorts nationwide, of which 63 lifts (51.6%) are over 20 years old. In the past 10 years, 18 safety accidents caused by ski lift malfunctions have been reported.

Since ski lift accidents occur in the air, there is a risk of falling and slipping, and if passengers are exposed to cold for a long time in the air, secondary damage such as hypothermia may occur.

Accordingly, the National Fire Agency will implement rescue measures to establish a prompt response system in case of ski resort safety accidents, including ▲creating and managing ski resort information management cards ▲developing practical training methods.

First, ski resort-specific information management cards containing necessary information for rescue activities, such as the length and height of each lift, rescue activity sections, and restricted rescue areas within the ski resort, will be created and managed to enable swift rescue operations.

Additionally, on the 19th, a joint civil-government training exercise will be conducted at Alpensia Ski Resort in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, with the aim of strengthening inter-agency cooperation systems to reduce response times in the event of similar future accidents.

This training will particularly focus on ▲incident situation management ▲establishing civil-government cooperation systems ▲triage of multiple casualties, and is expected to serve as an opportunity for fire department officials from regions with ski resorts to discuss accident response plans and share countermeasures.

Lee Il, Director of the 119 Response Bureau at the National Fire Agency, stated, “We will carefully oversee proactive administration to prepare for any accidents so that people can enjoy safe winter leisure activities,” and added, “We will do our best to establish rescue measures tailored to each type and characteristic to ensure there are no blind spots in safety accident prevention.”

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