Mountain Accidents Frequently Occurring in Spring... Gyeongnam Fire Headquarters Implements Safety Measures

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Saeyan] The Gyeongsangnam-do Fire Department announced on the 21st that it will implement safety measures for mountain accidents in spring 2021 based on the analysis of 119 dispatch big data to prevent mountain accidents during the spring season.

According to the 2020 statistics from the Korea National Park Service, the number of hikers in the Gyeongnam region decreased by about 34.4% compared to 2019 due to COVID-19. The number of mountain accidents within national parks also decreased by about 18.0%.

However, mountain accidents on hiking trails outside national parks increased by 10.3% (from 632 cases to 697 cases) compared to 2019, resulting in an overall increase in the total number of mountain accidents.

According to the analysis of 119 dispatch big data by the Gyeongsangnam-do Fire Department, mountain accidents were concentrated in the spring months of April to May with 149 cases (18.5%) and in the autumn months of September to October with 198 cases (24.6%).

The main causes of accidents were getting lost due to trail erosion and other factors with 242 cases (30.0%), followed by slips and falls with 152 cases (18.8%), personal illnesses with 75 cases (9.3%), and exhaustion and dehydration with 49 cases (6.1%).

Accordingly, the Gyeongnam Fire Department will link 3,197 mountain accident dispatch cases with 7,061 hiking trail spatial information data from the Korea Forest Service to implement customized safety measures based on the frequency of accidents by region.

At 29 major hiking trails with high accident risks, including Jirisan, hiking safety guardians composed of firefighters, volunteer firefighters, and citizen mountain rescue volunteers will be deployed to provide services such as guiding safe hiking for hikers and operating temporary emergency medical stations.

Additionally, 1,476 safety facilities installed on major hiking trails in the province will be inspected and maintained, and all efforts will be made to promote preventive publicity to spread a safe hiking culture.

On-site personnel will utilize the 119 on-site support mobile system, which allows direct access and verification of the caller’s smartphone location information, as well as drones equipped with optical and thermal imaging cameras to carry out rapid life-saving rescue activities.