Firefighters practice CPR at a safety center in Ansan, 30 kilometers south of Seoul, on Nov. 1, 2022, in the wake of the Itaewon tragedy, whose victims died from cardiac arrest. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — While more South Koreans now perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) compared to the past, they still lag behind the U.S., Britain, Japan and other major countries, a lawmaker said Tuesday.
Rep. Nam In-soon of the Democratic Party referred to a Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KCDA) report that South Korea’s CPR performance rate among the general public jumped from 16.8 percent in 2016 to 26.4 in 2020.
This refers to the rate of heart resuscitation performed by ordinary citizens who are not part of the ambulance or medical staff, before arriving at the hospital.
The rate fell short of 70 percent in Britain, 40.2 percent in the U.S. (as of 2020) and 50.2 percent in Japan between 2013 and 2015.
The survival and dehospitalization rate of heart attack patients stood at 7.5 percent for South Korea, falling behind 9 percent in the U.S. and 8.3 percent in Britain.
Sorted by region, 40.7 percent was concentrated in Seoul, and 35.1 percent in Daegu. Gwangju and North Gyeongsang Province, in contrast, stood at no more than 12.8 percent and 15.5 percent, respectively.
The number of people who received government education on CPR and other emergency treatment dropped from 673,000 in 2019 to 148,000 in 2020 and 186,000 in 2021 due to the pandemic.
Despite the decrease, only 1.65 billion won (US$1.20 million) has been allocated to the Ministry of Health and Welfare budget for emergency treatment education next year, down by 8.3 percent.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
