More Than 1,000 Patients Transported in Three Years
Mokpo Coast Guard Acts as "Ambulance on the Sea"
Mokpo Coast Guard (Chief Kwon Oseong) urgently transported a patient after receiving a report from the Anmado Health Center in Yeonggwang-gun at 4:51 p.m. on the 5th that there was an emergency patient.
According to Mokpo Coast Guard on the 6th, patient A (in their 80s), who had a pre-existing heart condition, experienced a rapid deterioration in health and required swift transport. However, a high seas warning was in effect at the time, with strong winds exceeding 12 m/s.
With helicopter takeoff impossible due to worsening weather, the nearest patrol vessel No. 215 was immediately dispatched. Despite 2-meter-high waves, the crew performed emergency treatment and operated a remote medical system, successfully transporting the patient to land by 8:30 p.m.
Last year alone, Mokpo Coast Guard transported 380 emergency patients, bringing the total number of emergency transports over the past three years to more than 1,000. In 2022, 385 patients were urgently transported, and in 2023, 340 patients.
This averages to 31 cases per month, with the highest number of patients occurring in August. Of the 380 emergency patients transported by Mokpo Coast Guard last year, 317 were from island regions, accounting for 83% of the total, while those aged 61 and older made up 60%.
In response, Mokpo Coast Guard continues to discuss emergency patient transport systems and medical cooperation with related organizations such as Shinan-gun Public Health Center and Mokpo Korea Hospital. They are also making ongoing efforts to improve the emergency response system by gathering suggestions and difficulties related to the maritime remote emergency medical system to enhance the quality of public medical services.
Chief Kwon Oseong stated, "We will continue to establish cooperative systems with related organizations to ensure an efficient emergency patient transport system," and added, "The Coast Guard will always maintain an emergency response system so that residents of island regions, who are in medical blind spots, are not excluded from medical benefits."
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