An Emergency Medical Service Support System for Patients in Rural Areas - an example from Taiwan

Taiwan has steep landforms. In addition to the aborigines, forest workers, and farmers who live and work in mountainous areas, tourists often visit these areas during the weekend and holidays. People have experienced injury or sudden health conditions in mountainous areas; however, because of inconvenient transport or traffic controls, some of the injured people could not reach hospitals promptly, eventually dying. To reduce the time required for people in rural areas to reach emergency care services and prevent the above tragedies, an “Emergency Medical Service Support System for Patients in Rural Areas” was developed. This system is aimed at support the current emergency and rescue command center (119 units). During emergencies in rural areas, the command center can authorize nearby vehicles with the rights to perform as an ambulance to transport emergency patients to hospitals promptly. This prevents treatment delays caused by waiting for an ambulance to arrive from a distant location. Additionally, the emergency and rescue command center can coordinate with the units responsible for the sections of road under construction to assist emergency vehicles in traveling through these areas smoothly. Finally, an ambulance can be sent to a relay station to transport patients to a hospital rapidly. This support system effectively transports emergency patients in rural areas to hospitals promptly to receive appropriate medical treatment.