Gwangju Emergency Medical Support Team Successfully Holds Cardiac Arrest Survivors' Day

The Gwangju Emergency Medical Support Team, led by Professor Yongsoo Cho of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Chonnam National University Hospital, recently held the "1st Gwangju Emergency Medical Support Team Symposium." Provided by Chonnam National University Hospital

Chonnam National University Hospital announced on the 28th that the Gwangju Emergency Medical Support Team, led by Professor Yongsoo Cho of the Department of Emergency Medicine, recently held the "1st Gwangju Emergency Medical Support Team Symposium."

This symposium drew attention by boldly departing from the traditional format of academic conferences centered on medical professionals. Under the subtitle "Cardiac Arrest Survivors' Day," more than 200 participants-including patients who miraculously returned from the brink of death, their supportive families, paramedics, and medical staff who fought on the front lines-joined the event.

In particular, the slogan of this event, "Beyond Survival After Cardiac Arrest," emphasized the need for the local community to consider not only the emergency treatment phase that saves lives, but also the physical and emotional challenges faced by survivors, and to support their complete recovery to everyday life.

The symposium featured multidisciplinary experts from emergency medicine, cardiology, rehabilitation medicine, and psychiatry, who engaged in in-depth discussions on practical post-care strategies for patients. Key topics included: "Beyond Survival After Cardiac Arrest" (Professor Byoungguk Lee, Department of Emergency Medicine); "A Healthy Heart Life from the Perspective of an Arrhythmia Specialist" (Professor Gihong Lee, Department of Cardiology); and "Never Again: Secondary Prevention of Acute Myocardial Infarction" (Professor Yonghwan Lim, Department of Cardiology). Through these presentations, the symposium strongly advocated for establishing a long-term follow-up management system to improve the quality of life for survivors and their families.

The highlight of this symposium was the session titled "Stories of Patients, Families, and Us." Paramedics and hospital staff who saved patients at the scene held hands with survivors who had made a healthy recovery. The video that followed, featuring heartfelt reflections from patients and their families, deeply moved many attendees and brought tears to the audience.

Starting with this symposium, the Gwangju Emergency Medical Support Team plans to hold regular gatherings to strengthen a patient-centered network. The goal is to fill the gap in care that occurs after hospital treatment and to establish a foundation for the local emergency medical system to take responsibility for the entire process until patients are fully reintegrated into society.

Yongsoo Cho, head of the Gwangju Emergency Medical Support Team and professor of emergency medicine at Chonnam National University Hospital, stated, "For cardiac arrest patients, 'survival' is not the end but a new beginning. From paramedics sweating in the field to hospital staff and the patients and families who have endured the most difficult times, we will create the optimal emergency medical environment where everyone can encourage each other and plan for happiness 'beyond' survival."