Gyeonggi-do Fire Department Dispatched Once Every 37 Seconds Last Year

A 119 paramedic from the Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters is performing emergency medical activities. Photo by Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters

The Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters 119 ambulance team was dispatched once every 37 seconds last year. The number of dispatches, transports, and transported patients all increased compared to the previous year.

According to the provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters, last year the provincial 119 ambulance team recorded 850,632 dispatches, 449,429 transports, and 454,221 transported patients. Converted to time, this means one dispatch every 37 seconds.

Looking at transported patients by type, diseases accounted for 312,01 cases, making up 68.3% of the total. This was followed by ▲trauma such as accident injuries with 86,666 cases (19.1%) ▲traffic accidents with 39,717 cases (8.7%) ▲non-traumatic injuries with 12,106 cases (2.7%) ▲others with 5,531 cases (1.2%).

In particular, the four major severe patient categories?cardiac arrest, severe trauma, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular diseases?accounted for 95,569 cases, representing 21% of the total. This is a 25.1% increase compared to the previous year (76,401 cases).

By month, the highest number of transported patients was in August (9.5%), when outdoor activities are frequent; by time of day, between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. (22.1%), when commuting and activity levels increase; and by age group, in the 60s (16%). Sixty-two percent of transported patients were aged 50 or older.

Jo Sun-ho, head of the Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters, stated, "Looking at the demand for ambulance services in the Gyeonggi area over the past 10 years, there was a brief slowdown in 2020 when COVID-19 began, but with the progress of vaccination and the easing of gathering restrictions in 2021 and 2022, demand increased sharply again, reaching the highest nationwide. We will analyze last year’s ambulance activities in detail to identify blind spots in ambulance services and improve the working conditions of ambulance personnel to provide high-quality ambulance services to residents."