Intelligent emergency system enhances patients' access to expert care

An intelligent emergency system covering the entire county of Dafang, Guizhou province, lets patients in ambulances receive expert consultations from top hospitals in Chengdu city, nearly 500 kilometers away.

"This has shortened average treatment time for acute myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke by nearly 10 minutes," Hou Xianmin from People's Hospital of Dafang said.

Once a patient boards an ambulance, the system records vital signs and transmits them to the county hospital, allowing the county hospital emergency team to form a treatment plan and obtain case consultations from outside experts.

The county's dispersed villages and winding mountain roads have long made emergency response and patient transfers slow.

That problem was addressed by the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party, a non-Communist political party made up mainly of medical and health experts, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, and other partners, who worked together to launch the emergency system.

"In 2025, video technology enabled 342 pre-hospital consultations and a total of 767 teleconsultations, moving the resuscitation room onto the road and giving remote patients immediate access to top-level care," Li Jian, Party secretary of the county hospital, said.

The system is also linked to 15 township health centers to create a remote intensive care unit, enabling countywide teleconsultations and continuous monitoring, so clinicians can track patients' treatment in real time.