Last Year, 3.56 Million 119 Ambulance Dispatches... One Person Transported Every 15 Seconds

Increase in Transport of Severe Emergency Patients Including Cardiac Arrest

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The National Fire Agency announced on the 16th that the number of dispatches by the 119 ambulance team to the scene last year was 3,564,720 cases, of which 1,996,688 people (56% of dispatch cases) were transported to hospitals after emergency treatment. This translates to an average of 9,766 dispatches and 5,470 transports per day, meaning a dispatch every 8.8 seconds and one transport every 15 seconds.

Comparing the number of 119 ambulance dispatches over the past 10 years (2013?2022), there was an increase of 1,381,250 cases (63.3%) from 2,183,470 cases in 2013, and the number of transported patients increased by 447,808 (28.9%) from 1,548,880. The average annual growth rate was 6% for dispatches and 3% for transports. Compared to 2021, dispatches increased by 415,764 cases (13.2%), and transported patients increased by 172,869 (9.5%).

By age group of transported patients, those in their 60s accounted for the largest share at 17%, followed by ▲80s (16.4%), ▲70s (16.2%), ▲50s (13.6%), ▲40s (9.3%), ▲20s (7.9%), ▲30s (7.5%), ▲under 10 years old (4.4%), ▲teens (4.1%), and ▲90 and above (3.6%). The age groups from 50s to 80s accounted for 63% of the total.

By location, most incidents occurred at home (64.7%), followed by roads (9.8%) and traffic areas outside roads (such as internal apartment roads) at 6%. Notably, compared to the previous year, incidents at sports facilities increased by 40.3%, educational facilities by 39.4%, and entertainment/cultural facilities by about 27%. This increase is believed to be due to the recovery of usage of these facilities to pre-COVID-19 levels after a period of reduced use due to the pandemic.

The number of transported patients with severe emergency diseases such as cardiac arrest and cardiovascular/cerebrovascular diseases was 389,197, an increase of about 61,908 (18.9%) compared to 327,289 the previous year. Among these, cardiovascular disease patients increased the most by 22.5%, cerebrovascular disease patients by 17.8%, and cardiac arrest patients by 5.5%.

Last year, 35,073 cardiac arrest patients were transported by the 119 ambulance team, an increase of 1,840 from 33,233 the previous year. This is attributed to an overall increase in individual activity levels as the COVID-19 situation recovers.

Additionally, these cardiac arrest cases were most frequent in spring, when the daily temperature range is large, and in winter, when the average temperature is low. By time of day, they occurred most often between 9?10 AM and 5?6 PM, which are commuting hours. The results suggest that individuals aged 50 and above with underlying conditions should exercise special care, especially during spring and winter.

Since 2019, the National Fire Agency has organized and operated 286 'special ambulance teams' nationwide, which are capable of providing professional emergency treatment faster than general ambulance teams, for critically ill emergency patients who need urgent care by the minute and second. Considering the increasing trend of critically ill emergency patients, since last year, five '119 critical patient special ambulance teams' have been deployed in Daegu and Jeonnam regions to exclusively respond to cardiac arrest, cardiogenic chest pain, severe trauma, anaphylaxis, and emergency childbirth cases.

The critical patient special ambulance teams consist of a nurse who has completed special ambulance training and a level 1 emergency medical technician. Besides special ambulance treatment and hospital transport duties, they are also piloting inter-hospital transfer services. During inter-hospital transfers, a doctor boards the ambulance to administer necessary medications and specialized respiratory care to maintain life.

Lee Il, Director of the 119 Response Bureau at the National Fire Agency, stated, “Currently, due to diversified living environments such as climate change, the number of critically ill emergency patients, including cardiac arrest patients, is continuously increasing.” He added, “We will closely cooperate with related ministries and the medical community to improve the quality of ambulance services targeting critically ill emergency patients, including expanding critical patient special ambulance teams.”

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