TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Pingtung County's top paramedic team has dramatically improved emergency medical outcomes, boosting out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates to 30.91% in the first half of this year from just 12.82% in 2022. The Pingtung County Paramedic Team (屏東高級救護隊), established in December 2024, represents a significant advancement in pre-hospital emergency care capabilities. Officials celebrated the team's remarkable achievements Wednesday (Sept. 3) at a press conference, emphasizing the unit's crucial role in transforming emergency medical services across the southern Taiwan county.
Li Pin-cheng (李彬正), head of Pingtung County's Bureau of Fire and Emergency Services (屏東消防局), Taiwan's local fire department, stated that this milestone marks a breakthrough in Pingtung's emergency response capabilities. The county government aims to extend these advanced services to central and southern regions, underscoring the specialized team's comprehensive mission to handle emergency medical duties, quality control, training programs, and first aid education. The expansion reflects Taiwan's commitment to improving rural emergency medical infrastructure.
Currently, 47 advanced paramedics serve the southern Taiwan county, with nine assigned to the elite ambulance team and 38 strategically distributed across 19 fire stations. Li highlighted the ongoing training of eight additional paramedics at the National Fire Agency (消防署), Taiwan's national firefighting authority, to ensure each station maintains a qualified advanced paramedic. The ambitious goal involves stationing advanced paramedics at every fire division, significantly enhancing emergency response capabilities across the entire region.
Huang Chih-jan (黃志然), a squad leader of the advanced ambulance team, shared a remarkable success story from May that exemplifies the unit's life-saving capabilities. Paramedics successfully revived a 60-year-old man who collapsed at a metal factory in Pingtung City using an automated external defibrillator (AED). The patient regained vital signs upon arrival at the hospital, powerfully illustrating the team's transformative impact on emergency medical outcomes.