The National Fire Agency said on the 2nd it will fully implement a "national integrated dispatch system for fire helicopters" that deploys the closest and most suitable helicopter to the accident site regardless of jurisdiction.
The National Fire Agency has test-run the integrated helicopter dispatch system since April 2023, focusing on southern regions such as Chungcheong, Yeongnam, and Honam. It achieved results of cutting an average 13.2 minutes per dispatch and 40 km in flight distance. In January this year, after Gyeonggi and Gangwon, Seoul and Incheon were added this month to the integrated network, completing a nationwide single dispatch and control system.
The National Fire Agency said the integrated dispatch system is already proving effective. On the 15th, in Namyangju, Gyeonggi, a hiker in their 60s fractured an ankle in a fall while descending. Through coordination and control by the National Fire Agency's 119 Air Operations Control Center, a Seoul fire helicopter closer to the scene was dispatched instead of the jurisdictional Gyeonggi fire helicopter, cutting about 10 minutes of flight time and more than 30 km in distance. The patient was transported quickly.
This kind of cooperative system is expected to become even tighter going forward. For example, in Gyeonggi Province, the fire helicopter is in Yongin in the south, but if an accident occurs around Daebu-do in Ansan, a closer fire helicopter from Yeongjong-do in Incheon can be dispatched. If an accident occurs in Incheon or northern Gyeonggi, the Seoul 119 Air Rescue Unit based at Gimpo Airport would be dispatched.
Kim Seung-ryong, acting commissioner of the National Fire Agency, said, "We have made it possible to conduct the fastest and most effective air rescues by removing the boundaries between cities and provinces," and added, "We will fill gaps in fire helicopter coverage through mutual support and fully leverage geographic advantages to complete a national safety net that saves people's precious lives."