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Accessibility gap in ERs, ICUs widens between Seoul, remote regions
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By Jun Ji-hye
By Jun Ji-hye
Nine in 10 Seoul residents managed to visit an emergency room (ER) within an hour after an emergency situation occurred, according to recent data. But the ratio for rural and regional areas was nearly half that, showing a serious gap in ER accessibility between the capital and regions.
According to the statistics published on Sunday by the National Medical Center, the large gap was found in not only ER accessibility but also other medical services such as the use of high-level general hospitals and intensive care units (ICU).
The statistics showed that the ratio of visiting an ER within an hour on average was tallied at 72.8 percent as of 2021. The figure stood at 90.3 percent in Seoul, 86.7 percent in Incheon and 77.6 percent in Gyeonggi Province.
Among cities outside the greater Seoul area, Daegu, Gwangju and Busan saw higher figures than the average at 91.1 percent, 89.2 percent and 85 percent, respectively.
On the other hand, the figures for South Jeolla Province, North Gyeongsang Province and Gangwon Province were well below the average at 51.7 percent, 53.4 percent and 55.8 percent, respectively.
The ratio of visiting an ICU within an hour stood at 93.3 percent in Seoul, 85.8 percent in Incheon and 78.3 percent in Gyeonggi Province, contrasted with 45.7 percent in Gangwon Province, 46 percent in South Chungcheong Province and 46.1 percent in South Jeolla Province.
With regard to the use of high-level general hospitals that are in charge of final treatment of patients, the ratio of visiting such an institution within three hours was tallied at 73.1 percent on average.
The figures for most of the cities, excluding Daejeon (69.8 percent) and Sejong (52.4 percent), were higher than average, with those of the greater Seoul area reaching almost 100 percent.
On the other hand, the figures for South Jeolla Province and North Gyeongsang Province were as low as 52.2 percent and 59.5 percent, respectively.
For Jeju Island where there are no high-level general hospitals, the figure was stated as zero percent.