Attach in a Visible Place to Support Quick and Accurate Home Address Reporting in Emergencies
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 25th that it will produce and support guide stickers containing the road name addresses of 120,000 elderly people living alone. This measure was prepared to resolve the biggest difficulty faced by single-person households, "difficulty in coping when feeling sick or in an emergency," following Seoul's "Single-Person Household Hospital Safety Escort Service."
The stickers will be attached in places that are always easily visible, such as bathroom walls where falls are likely to occur, next to telephones, or on refrigerators, so that in an emergency, reports can be made quickly and accurately according to the address written on the sticker. The stickers will be made in a large size of 15cm wide and 21cm high so that elderly people can easily read them at a glance, and in forms such as magnets or stickers that can be easily attached indoors.
In addition to the road name address of the elderly person's residence, the sticker will also include the numbers for 119 and the Seoul Single-Person Household Hospital Safety Escort Service call center. Emergency contact numbers for children, family members, or guardians can also be written.
Considering the proportion of elderly people living alone, Seoul will first select about eight autonomous districts to carry out the project. When the city provides subsidies, the autonomous districts will produce and distribute the "Road Name Address Guide Stickers" to elderly people living alone. Based on the "Road Name Address Guide Sticker" production plan, the installation and distribution methods may be changed according to the circumstances of each autonomous district to maximize project efficiency.
Meanwhile, Seoul plans to gradually expand the project to all autonomous districts to support more elderly people living alone in leading safe daily lives. Lee Hojin, head of Seoul's Single-Person Household Special Measures Team 2, said, "We expect this to help resolve the daily inconveniences faced by elderly people living alone when they feel sick or are in an emergency," adding, "We will continue to discover and support practical policies that help the daily lives of single-person households."
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