First Regional Mental Health Emergency Response Model! Gumi City Center Provides 24-Hour Rapid Dispatch

The ‘Joint Mental Health Emergency Response Center’ in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, which was the first of its kind to be operated by a local government, has drawn attention by handling 268 on-site dispatches and 1,096 phone consultations in just over a year since its opening, providing rapid responses to psychiatric crisis situations.

Gumi City Hall in Gyeongbuk./Photo by Byunggeon Kwon

From November 2023 to December 2024, the center responded to a total of 268 crisis situations, achieving tangible results such as 40 emergency hospitalizations (14.9%), 102 cases linked to the Mental Health Welfare Center (38.1%), and 126 cases involving handover to guardians or provision of information (47.0%).

The Joint Mental Health Emergency Response Center, located in Gwangpyeong-dong, Gumi, is the first local case to integrate the ‘Emergency Hospitalization On-Site Support Team’ of the North Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency and the ‘Crisis Intervention Team’ of the Gumi Mental Health Welfare Center, drawing significant attention.

The center operates with a total of 12 staff members working in three shifts, covering six cities and counties including Gumi (Gimcheon, Sangju, Goryeong, Seongju, and Chilgok).

When a psychiatric crisis occurs, the center immediately dispatches a team to the scene to provide 24-hour professional services, quickly taking action such as ▲transport to a medical institution ▲linkage to the Mental Health Welfare Center ▲handover to guardians, after assessing the risk of harm to self or others.

In particular, when emergency hospitalization is required, the center operates a one-stop response system, from checking for available hospital beds to arranging 119 ambulance transport, actively responding to urgent situations.

In 2025, Gumi City plans to further strengthen its response system to enhance the effectiveness of crisis intervention by ▲deploying additional dedicated crisis intervention personnel ▲reinforcing 24-hour on-site response ▲improving the psychiatric emergency intervention process ▲expanding the crisis response council.

Gumi Mayor Kim Jangho stated, “Through the operation of the Joint Mental Health Emergency Response Center, a systematic process has been established from assessment to hospitalization and treatment linkage for individuals with mental illness and those at risk of suicide,” adding, “We will also strengthen follow-up management by the Mental Health Welfare Center to prevent recurrence of crisis situations.”