‘Pregnancy-Only 119 Ambulances’ Deployed in Each City and County of Chungnam

Image of a 119 ambulance. The photo is unrelated to the article. Source=Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Chungnam Provincial Fire Headquarters is deploying and operating dedicated 119 ambulances for pregnant women in each of the 15 cities and counties.

On the 17th, the Provincial Fire Headquarters held a "Dedicated 119 Ambulance for Pregnant Women Launch Event." At the event, one additional large ambulance was introduced and unveiled.

The dedicated 119 ambulances for pregnant women are operated with a total of 16 vehicles: four large buses converted from 15-passenger buses and twelve standard types converted from 11-passenger vans. The large vehicles are assigned to Boryeong, Asan, Seosan, and Nonsan, while the standard types are distributed to the remaining cities and counties.

The Provincial Fire Headquarters enhanced safety by adding lane departure warning and hill-start assist devices to each ambulance, and equipped them with emergency delivery kits and 71 pieces of 31 types of advanced defibrillators.

Additionally, electric stretchers to reduce shock for pregnant women and anti-fall seats to ensure newborn safety were installed.

Yang Seung-jo, Governor of Chungnam Province, stated, "The deployment of dedicated 119 ambulances for pregnant women will take responsibility for the health and safety of pregnant women and contribute to creating a birth-friendly environment."

Meanwhile, the 119 ambulance service for pregnant women was first introduced nationwide in Chungnam in December 2018 to help pregnant women in rural fishing and farming areas give birth with peace of mind.

As of the end of last month, 11,453 local pregnant women (including 429 from multicultural families) are registered in the emergency rescue system, and from 2018 to May of this year, the number of uses of the 119 ambulance service for pregnant women totaled 9,034 cases.