Emergency Medical Helicopter Transfers for Acute Myocardial Infarction and Stroke Decrease by 25% This Year

Assemblyman Kim Sun-min Reports Significant Decrease in Gangwon, Chungnam, and Jeonbuk Regions

Amid the ongoing medical crisis, the number of patients transported by emergency medical helicopters has significantly decreased.

According to the 'Regional Dispatch Status of Emergency Medical Helicopters' submitted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to Kim Seon-min, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee from the Innovation Party, the number of patients transported by emergency medical helicopters from the beginning of this year to September was 879, a 25% (292 patients) decrease compared to 1,171 during the same period last year.

By region, from January to September, the number of patients transported by emergency medical helicopters in Gyeongbuk increased by 14% to 30 patients compared to the same period last year, while Gyeonggi and Jeju increased by 7% and 66% to 21 and 14 patients, respectively. On the other hand, the number of transported patients in Gangwon was 142, a decrease of 83% compared to the previous year; Chungnam 91 (-81%), Jeonbuk 66 (-66%), Incheon 37 (-46%), and Jeonnam 21 (-11%) also saw significant declines.

Additionally, by disease type, the number of acute myocardial infarction patients sharply dropped by 54%, from 82 in January to June 2023 to 38 in the same period in 2024; acute stroke patients decreased by 33%, from 88 to 59; severe trauma cases fell by 12%, from 311 to 273; and other emergency diseases declined by 31%, from 314 to 216.

Assemblyman Kim stated, "The fact that the number of patients transported by emergency medical helicopters decreased by 25% this year, despite not having a particularly high number last year, means that emergency patients who need treatment are not receiving timely emergency care." He added, "Especially, the sharp decline in the number of transported patients in some regions indicates that local emergency medical services are collapsing."

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