Government, Emergency Centers, and Academic Societies Launch Policy Promotion Team... Accelerating Emergency Medical Measures

On the 13th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare launched the Central Emergency Medical Policy Promotion Team and held its first meeting. This promotion team was formed to concretize and vigorously implement the 'Emergency Medical Care Urgent Measures' announced last month through the ruling party-government consultation. The team includes government agencies such as the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Fire Agency, as well as related organizations and groups like the Central Emergency Medical Center and the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine.

Emergency Medical Center stock photo. [Image source=Yonhap News]

At the first meeting, the main agenda items reported and discussed were 'Institutional Improvement Measures Related to Emergency Room Admission Difficulties' and 'Institutional Improvement Measures Related to Emergency Patient Transport.' The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Fire Agency jointly decided to prepare regional transport guideline manuals and distribute them to each local government by the end of the year. These regional transport guidelines are part of the measures to alleviate emergency room overcrowding announced earlier through the ruling party-government consultation, serving as a core manual that reflects the distribution of regional medical institutions and the status of medical resources to promptly transport emergency patients to appropriate medical institutions according to the severity of their condition.

Furthermore, to prevent inappropriate transport and admission within the region, plans are in place to operate a 'Regional Emergency Medical Council' involving local governments, regional fire headquarters, and emergency medical institutions within the region. This council will review cases of inappropriate admission difficulties occurring locally and utilize the results to improve the regional transport system. Additionally, by reflecting the regional transport guideline manuals distributed later by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Fire Agency, regional transport guidelines will be established by the end of the year.

Park Min-su, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "Emergency medical care is a representative essential medical field directly related to the lives of the people, and to establish a regionally complete emergency medical system, linkage and cooperation among various entities are essential." He added, "Starting with the launch of the promotion team, we will unite the capabilities of the public and private sectors to promptly prepare and implement effective measures."

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