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Busan’s Emergency Patient Transport System Connects 837 Patients to Treatment in First Half of Year, Stabilizing Emergency Medical Care Delivery

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Busan Metropolitan City, led by Mayor Chun Jae-soo, announced that the first-half results of the Busan Sequential Care System for Emergency Patients with Acute Poisoning, the first such system in the country and launched in 2026, confirmed improvements in emergency medical care delivery, including shorter hospital selection times and fewer transports outside the region, despite an increase in emergency patients with acute poisoning.

The program is overseen by Busan Metropolitan City and the Busan Emergency Medical Support Center, with participation from the Busan Fire and Disaster Headquarters and 12 emergency medical institutions. It is the nation’s first sequential emergency care system designed to rapidly transport patients to appropriate medical institutions based on the severity of their condition.

Participating Emergency Medical Institutions as of July 29, in alphabetical order

Severe Case Treatment Institutions: Dong-A University Hospital, Pusan National University Hospital, Inje University Busan Paik Hospital, and Inje University Haeundae Paik Hospital

Mild Case Treatment Institutions: Kosin University Gospel Hospital, Daedong Hospital, Dongnae Bongsaeng Hospital, Busan St. Mary’s Hospital, Busan Medical Center, Good Gang-An Hospital, Good Samsun Hospital, and BH Hanseo Hospital

From January through June of this year, a total of 837 emergency patients with acute poisoning—453 severe cases and 384 mild cases—were rapidly transported to medical institutions through the sequential care system and received appropriate treatment.

Participating medical institutions were assigned separate roles as severe case treatment institutions and mild case treatment institutions. The system was also linked to the hospital selection process of the 119 Emergency Medical Dispatch Center to minimize repeated interhospital transfers and hospital refusals.

The system was found to help secure the critical treatment window for emergency patients, reducing hospital selection time by 46 percent and sharply decreasing transports outside the region.

The average hospital selection time, which had been 29.1 minutes before the program was introduced, fell to 15.8 minutes afterward, a reduction of 13.3 minutes, or approximately 46 percent.

The rate of transport outside the region decreased from 21.7 percent before the program to 0.6 percent afterward, indicating that most emergency patients with acute poisoning received treatment at medical institutions in Busan.

This is regarded as a structural improvement to the problem of emergency patients having to wait extended periods while searching for a hospital or being transferred among multiple medical institutions.

Considering that more than 60 percent of emergency patients with acute poisoning are suicide-attempt survivors, Busan Metropolitan City is also working to establish a follow-up care system linking patients with relevant organizations, including mental health welfare centers, after emergency treatment.

Beyond saving the lives of emergency patients, the city plans to continuously strengthen cooperation between the emergency medical care and mental health sectors to prevent repeated suicide attempts and reinforce the community safety net.

Based on the program’s first-half achievements, Busan Metropolitan City plans to gradually expand its emergency patient transport system to other emergency medical fields, including trauma, pediatrics, and childbirth.

Under the recently revised Busan Metropolitan City Emergency Patient Transport Guidelines, the city will further develop transport systems tailored to the characteristics of individual conditions. It will also establish an emergency medical care system that enables residents to receive treatment more quickly by aligning its efforts with the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s policy to reform the emergency patient transport system.

Cho Gyu-yul, Director-General of the Citizen Health Bureau, said, “Despite the increase in emergency patients with acute poisoning, the substantial reduction in hospital selection time and the ability to treat most patients within Busan are achievements made possible through the joint efforts of emergency medical institutions, fire authorities, and mental health welfare centers.”

“We will continue to enhance the emergency patient transport system based on data and establish an emergency medical care system that enables residents to receive prompt and safe treatment during emergencies,” Cho added.