Clumsy Pronunciation During Call... Dental Hygienist + Fire Officer's Quick Wit Saved a Life

Dental 'No-Show' Customer Called, "Speech is Slurred"
Quick Decision Leads to Report and Dispatch, Saving a Precious Life

A dental hygienist and firefighters who called a customer who had not visited the dental clinic and reported to 119 after hearing the customer's slurred speech are credited with saving a precious life through their prompt response.

Citizens and firefighters who saved a stroke patient. From the left, Yoonmi Oh (35), working as a dental hygienist, and Fire Lieutenant Soyoung Choi (30).
[Photo by Sejong City Fire Headquarters]

According to the Sejong City Fire Headquarters on the 20th, a report was received around 10 a.m. the previous day from citizen Oh Yun-mi (35), stating, "I was talking to a customer, but their speech seemed a bit slurred and strange."

Oh, who works as a dental hygienist at a dental clinic in Sejong City, sensed something was wrong when a female customer in her 60s, Ms. A, who had an appointment at the clinic, did not show up and she called her.

Noticing that Ms. A's speech sounded slurred unlike usual, Oh immediately called 119 to explain the situation.

Emergency situation manager, Fire Officer Choi So-young (30), who received the report, made several attempts to contact Ms. A and finally reached her. During the call with Officer Choi, only intermittent groans could be heard from the other end of the line.

Realizing the dangerous situation, Officer Choi immediately issued a "pump-ambulance" dispatch order.

The pump-ambulance system involves the simultaneous dispatch of a fire pump truck and an ambulance. Since the pump truck carries emergency equipment, initial treatment for the patient is possible, which is why this measure was taken.

The Fire Headquarters identified the patient's location by checking the mobile phone's location information and, after a search, found Ms. A sitting against a container in a field near her home in Wachon-ri, Sejong City.

At the time of discovery, Ms. A was experiencing hemiplegia symptoms and was unconscious. A stroke scale test indicated suspected stroke symptoms.

Ms. A was transferred to a nearby cerebrovascular center and is currently receiving medication treatment in the intensive care unit.

A Fire Headquarters official said, "If the discovery had been delayed even a little longer, surgery might have been necessary or the patient could have fallen into a critical condition. Thanks to the citizen's proactive report, the firefighters' accurate assessment, and the paramedics' swift response, a precious life was saved."

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