Preventing a Holiday Emergency Care Blackout... Andong Hospital as a Final-Treatment Frontline Hub Handling 72.8% Severe Cases

Strengthened Regional Life-Safety Net Amid Influx of Out-of-Area Patients
Full Mobilization of Doctor Helicopter and Trauma Center
1,032 Patients Treated Over the Holiday, Proving Capacity for Severe-Care Response

Andong Hospital of the Andong Medical Foundation operated a 24-hour emergency medical system during the Lunar New Year holiday, serving as a key hub for regional emergency care.

According to Andong Hospital, a total of 1,032 patients visited the emergency room over the five days from February 14 to 18. Notably, patients from areas outside Andong accounted for 63.7% (657 patients), and patients from outside North Gyeongsang Province, from other cities and provinces, reached 19.3% (199 patients). This shows that, amid disparities in medical accessibility between regions, the hospital’s function as a final-treatment hospital has been strengthened.

An air ambulance from Andong Hospital is taking off.

Treatment for patients with severe trauma also continued during the holiday. Patients with multiple injuries from traffic accidents and patients injured in falls were urgently transported upon requests from the 119 emergency control center and higher-level hospitals. Immediately upon arrival, the regional trauma center’s rapid response and the interventional radiology department’s emergency embolization procedures were carried out, and intensive care is being provided in the trauma intensive care unit.

Essential medical response using the doctor helicopter also continued. A patient with acute myocardial infarction who developed the condition in Bonghwa was transported by air, after which medical staff at the regional cardio-cerebrovascular disease center performed an emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). An infant patient with intussusception also overcame a critical situation through an emergency radiologic reduction procedure. Within a system where pediatric specialists are on duty 24 hours a day, 279 pediatric patients received treatment during the holiday period.

The proportion of severe cases increased markedly. Patients classified as Levels 1 to 3 under the Korean Triage and Acuity Scale (KTAS) numbered 751, accounting for 72.8% of all patients, a rise of 16.7 percentage points compared with the previous Lunar New Year holiday (56.1%). The number of patients who were hospitalized after visiting the emergency room was 215, with a hospitalization rate of 20.8%.

Andong Hospital

Chairman Kang Sinhong said, "As a regional final-treatment hub hospital, we will continue to strengthen our responsibility to provide essential emergency and critical care and do our utmost to maintain the local medical safety net."

Meanwhile, Andong Hospital has been operating as the regional emergency medical center for North Gyeongsang Province designated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare since 2000, and in the 2024 emergency medical institution evaluation, it was the only regional emergency medical center in the Daegu and North Gyeongsang area to receive the highest Grade A rating for eight consecutive years.