해양경찰 구급 기능 강화 필요성 및 실질적 강화 방안에 관한 연구 = A Study on the Necessity of Strengthening the Korea Coast Guard’s Emergency Medical Function and Practical Measures for its Enhancement

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

In case where an emergency patient occurs among island residents or tourists, or when an emergency patient arises at sea, it is difficult to expect the assistance of fire services or local government emergency medical care. Thus, almost all people rely on the Coast Guard’s emergency medical capacity-that is, its functions of first aid and transport. According to the statistics on the transport of emergency patients over the past five years, 82.1% of patients occurring in island areas and at sea have been transported by the Korea Coast Guard.
However, the Coast Guard’s emergency medical capacity and organizational system are in a very vulnerable state compared to the fire services that perform emergency medical tasks on land. Within the Coast Guard organization, there is little interest in emergency medical work, which is considered not as an essential duty of the Coast Guard but as an auxiliary task. While the role of the Coast Guard in first aid and transport of emergency patients at sea is significant and public expectations are high, the reality of the Coast Guard’s emergency medical system and capacity is insufficient.
With this awareness of the problem, a comparison was made not only with the maritime emergency medical systems of similar overseas agencies but also with the emergency medical-related organizational system of the domestic fire services.
In addition, statistics on emergency patient transport over the past five years were examined for the West Regional Headquarters of the Korea Coast Guard, which accounts for 54.1% of the Coast Guard’s emergency patient transports. Furthermore, the results of a survey(a total of 486 responses) conducted among participants of the “2025 stepwise on-Scene Specialized Emergency Medical Training” held at the Coast Guard Academy were analyzed.
Based on these comparisons and analyses, the study proposes concrete strategies to strengthen the Coast Guard’s emergency medical functions in six key areas: the area of emergency medical organization and authorized personnel, the are of redistribution of current authorized personnel and position, the area of personnel management and institutional improvement, the area of awareness improvement, the area of training, and other areas.