Seoul City running relief ambulances to fight heat wave

By Kim Hwa-soo
Korea Times intern

Seoul City will run a special relief squad till the end of September for the elderly who are more likely to suffer from dehydration and heat stroke in the sizzling summer temperatures. The service was launched on July 1.

The city’s Fire and Disaster Management Department said that the squad is composed of 114 ambulances and 876 first aid workers.

The service, named Call & Cool, has been supplied with devices to fight the heat wave such as ice jackets, ice packs, saline solution, intravenous injections, refined salt and water sprays that can be used as first aid to those suffering from the heat wave, a spokesman said.

The ambulances will patrol residential areas, elderly welfare centers and senior citizen centers when a heat wave advisory or warning is issued.

They will provide free frozen tap water and refined salt to senior citizens at parks, construction sites and other places where they gather.

The heat wave advisory is issued when the daily high temperature is 33 degrees Celsius or higher and if a heat wave of 32 degrees Celsius or higher continues for a second consecutive day or longer. A heat wave warning is issued when the daily high is 35 degrees or higher and a heat wave of 41 degrees or higher continues for two or more days.

Paid helpers will be sent to homes of the elderly who live alone to check their blood pressure, body temperature and possible symptoms of heat stroke, and to provide tips on healthy lifestyles during a bout of particularly hot weather.

The tips are to avoid outdoor activities between 12 and 4 p.m., not to take cold showers which might cause heart failure and to place fans facing the window or door which increases ventilation.

“You have to walk slowly and avoid excessive exercise at midday on a very hot day,” said an official of the disaster management department. “In particular, the elderly and the weak should get enough nutrition and rest, while staying indoors in cool temperatures.”

A total of 126 people suffered from heat stroke last summer, of which 47 patients or 37 percent were senior citizens aged 60 years or older, according to the department.

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