It was found that the number of cases of refusal to accept patients by emergency medical institutions in the Jeonnam region has increased 2.8 times over the past three years. As transfer times increase due to delays in hospital admission and the number of retransfer cases also increases, concerns are growing about the weakening of the overall function of the local emergency medical system.
According to the analysis of data from the National Fire Agency and the Jeonnam Fire Department by Rep. Seo Young-seok of the Democratic Party of Korea (Bucheon Gap, Gyeonggi Province), a member of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, on the 18th, the number of cases of refusal to accept patients by emergency medical institutions in the Jeonnam region increased from 973 in 2023 to 1,406 in 2024 and 2,701 last year. This figure has increased by about 2.8 times over the past three years.
The number of cases of retransferring patients to other hospitals also increased from 236 to 280 to 274 during the same period.
Transport delays are also evident. The number of patients who took 119 emergency services more than 120 minutes to find a hospital increased by 20.3%, from 330 in 2023 to 368 in 2024 and 397 last year. The number of patients transferred for more than 60 minutes also increased again to 4,969 in 2023, 4,579 in 2024, and 5,002 last year.
On the other hand, the total number of emergency patient transfers decreased by about 9% from 89,324 in 2023 to 84,773 in 2024 and 81,241 last year.
Rep. Seo Young-seok said, “The trend of longer on-site stay times shows problems with the overall emergency medical reception system,” and emphasized, “Relevant ministries must substantially strengthen the local emergency medical infrastructure.”
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