A view of Daegu City Hall's Sangyeok-dong office. [Daegu city government]
A view of Daegu City Hall's Sangyeok-dong office. [Daegu city government]

Daegu city announced Wednesday it has drawn up a plan to strengthen its emergency medical safety net using AI, aiming to prevent ambulances from being turned away by multiple hospitals before finding one that can accept a patient.

The plan centers on the active use of AI. The city will deploy the SAVE-R AI platform, currently under development by Kyungpook National University Hospital, so that when an emergency patient boards an ambulance, the system analyzes the patient's condition and vital signs in real time.

Using that data, the system matches the patient to the hospital best equipped to provide treatment, then transmits the patient's information to that facility so preparations can begin before the ambulance arrives.

The process of paramedics individually calling hospitals to check whether they can accept a patient will be streamlined, the city said, enabling faster treatment and securing the critical window for intervention.

The system is set to be rolled out in stages beginning in September.

The city also plans to strengthen a multi-transfer and referral network for critically ill emergency patients who are difficult to place, and to build an inter-regional transport system that can request hospital placement on a nationwide basis when local medical resources are insufficient.

Daegu will also become the first city in the country to establish a framework reducing the legal risk faced by medical staff who actively accept critically ill emergency patients.

Daegu city held a forum on essential regional medical issues with local healthcare professionals and experts at Kyungpook National University Hospital on Tuesday. [Daegu city government]
Daegu city held a forum on essential regional medical issues with local healthcare professionals and experts at Kyungpook National University Hospital on Tuesday. [Daegu city government]

The city shared the plans at a forum held Tuesday at Kyungpook National University Hospital, bringing together local medical professionals and experts to discuss pressing issues in essential regional healthcare.

"We will set a new benchmark for regional medicine with a Daegu-style emergency medical safety net that seamlessly connects every stage — from the moment a patient falls ill through transport, treatment and recovery — and build a city where residents can feel safe," Daegu Mayor Choo Kyung-ho said.


kbj7653@heraldcorp.com