Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Lee Hyung-hoon speaks at the third Central-Local Consultative Body on Regional, Essential and Public Healthcare Promotion Strategy, held at the International Electronics Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on July 7. [Yonhap]
Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Lee Hyung-hoon speaks at the third Central-Local Consultative Body on Regional, Essential and Public Healthcare Promotion Strategy, held at the International Electronics Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on July 7. [Yonhap]

The government is moving quickly to overhaul regional emergency patient transport systems to prevent delays caused by patients failing to find a hospital in time.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Monday it held a meeting at Chungnam National University Hospital in Daejeon, chaired by Vice Minister Lee Hyung-hoon, to discuss emergency transport systems for the Daejeon, Sejong, North Chungcheong Province and South Chungcheong Province regions.

The ministry is working to expand a pilot transport reform program — conducted in the Gwangju and Jeolla regions from March to May this year — to all 16 cities and provinces, with emergency medical institutions, 119 paramedic units and regional emergency dispatch centers participating in the revision of transport guidelines.

In the Daejeon and Chungcheong area, Daejeon will serve as the hub for the southern zone and Cheonan for the northern zone, with both designated to actively accept critically ill emergency patients.

North Chungcheong Province has also established a new coordination framework with Andong in North Gyeongsang Province, taking into account the distribution of medical facilities and geographic accessibility.

The ministry is conducting regular checks to ensure all cities and provinces complete their transport guideline revisions by September. Busan, Daegu, Ulsan and North Gyeongsang Province have already finished the process and are applying the updated guidelines in the field.

Busan incorporated into its guidelines the country's first sequential treatment system for acute poisoning emergency patients and a regional trauma care network. Daegu has activated an inter-regional transport system extending to other cities and provinces through its metropolitan dispatch center.

Ulsan and North Gyeongsang Province have designated priority receiving hospitals through their metropolitan dispatch centers when transport of critically ill patients is delayed, and have reorganized helicopter transport systems to handle long-distance transfers.

"The key to expanding the pilot program is creating transport guidelines that can work on the ground, built on cooperation between emergency medical staff and 119 paramedic units," Vice Minister Lee said. "Please make thorough preparations so that no one ends up unable to find an emergency room."


thlee@heraldcorp.com