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MOHW initiated the EMS system for the Formosa Fun Coast fire in New Taipei City

  • Data Source:Ministry of Health and Welfare
  • Created:2015-06-28
  • Last Updated:2017-01-11

A blaze that is suspected to have been caused by a dust explosion broke out on a stage at the Formosa Fun Coast in New Taipei City around 8:30 p.m. on June 27, leaving numerous visitors with burn injuries. The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) immediately initiated a cross-regional emergency medical services (EMS) system designed for mass casualty incidents. One of the features is the case entry function of the emergency medical management system, which enables each hospital to report the injured treated in the hospital and helps to monitor the status of the injured as well as the hospitalization and treatment provided in each hospital. The MOHW also promptly contacted the health departments in Taipei City, New Taipei City, Keelung City, and Taoyuan County, their affiliated hospitals, as well as the burn units and intensive care units of the hospitals, requesting them to completely gear up for the hospitalization and treatment of the injured. 

Moreover, under the assistance of the MOHW, medical stations were set up at the site, and a total of eight teams of medical personnel from five hospitals, including Sanchung Branch of New Taipei City Hospital, Cathay General Hospital, Taiwan Adventist Hospital, Taipei Medical University Hospital, and Taipei City Hospital (the latter four are in Taipei City), were dispatched to perform first aid at the site. The MOHW also coordinated private ambulance services of the health departments in Keelung, Taoyuan, and Taipei to support the Public Health Department of New Taipei City Government in transporting the injured. 

Concerned about the blaze, Minister Chiang Been-huang of the MOHW visited the injured and encouraged the medical personnel at the Department of Emergency Medicine of National Taiwan University Hospital and Mackay Memorial Hospital in Danshui around midnight. The emergency response staff of the MOHW also rushed into the office to continuously sort out and update the information about the capacity of each hospital and conditions of the injured. With the victim rescue and EMS systems having been proactively initiated, Minister Chiang of the MOHW expressed special thanks to the medical personnel at the 34 hospitals in Taipei City, New Taipei City, Keelung City, and Taoyuan County. It was because of their dedication and hard work throughout the whole night that all of the injured received treatment and medical care in the fastest way possible. As of 6 a.m. on June 28, a total of 468 injured people had been receiving medical treatment at the hospitals.