Fire Trucks and Ambulances Get 'Free Pass' Entering Schools... Automatic Passage Through Unmanned Barriers

From now on, fire trucks and ambulances will be able to enter schools more quickly in emergency situations such as fires or accidents.

The Ministry of Education and the National Fire Agency announced on the 25th that they plan to introduce an automatic emergency vehicle entry and exit system at kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as universities nationwide.

The automatic emergency vehicle entry and exit system is a system where unmanned entry and exit barriers recognize fire trucks and ambulances equipped with special license plates starting with '998' and automatically allow them to pass through.

As the government announced detailed implementation plans for the COVID-19 vaccination, on the 29th, an ambulance entered the isolation treatment ward at the National Medical Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, where the COVID-19 Central Vaccination Center is located. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

The government revised related regulations in 2021 to ensure the golden time for fire, rescue, and emergency services and introduced this system in apartments and multi-use facilities. This time, the target will be expanded to educational facilities.

The Ministry of Education began a survey last month on unmanned entry and exit barriers installed at approximately 21,000 schools nationwide to prepare for the system's introduction.

They plan to improve the functions of the unmanned entry and exit barriers or replace the barriers themselves and introduce the automatic emergency vehicle entry and exit system to schools nationwide by the end of next year.

Park Seong-min, Director of the Education Autonomy Cooperation and Safety Bureau at the Ministry of Education, explained, "In the future, it will be possible to secure the golden time and respond more quickly when emergencies occur at educational facilities."

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