In recent years, the Taichung City Government’s Fire Bureau has continuously enhanced its emergency medical service capabilities by integrating technology, systems, and personnel upgrades, achieving remarkable results. According to statistics, from 2019 to May 2025, the success rate of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) resuscitation improved significantly from 22.38% to 40.02%, demonstrating notable progress in the efficiency and quality of emergency care in Taichung. The Fire Bureau noted that, with the strong support of Mayor Lu Shiow-Yen, the bureau has implemented the “Greater Taichung Emergency Medical Services Enhancement Project” since 2021. This project focuses on three key areas: providing Emergency Medical Technician – Professional (EMT-P) training, acquiring advanced emergency medical equipment, and establishing dedicated EMS training facilities. This project has effectively increased the proportion of EMT-Ps within the emergency response workforce and authorized them to operate advanced life-saving equipment at emergency scenes, thereby maximizing the effectiveness of emergency care.
The Fire Bureau noted that all active ambulances in Taichung City are now fully equipped with advanced emergency medical devices, including automated cardiopulmonary resuscitation machines, automatic oxygen powered resuscitators, electric intraosseous infusion devices, end-tidal carbon dioxide detectors, video laryngoscopes, and 12-lead electrocardiogram monitors. Combined with the professional application by EMT-Ps, these devices have significantly enhanced the city's capabilities in handling OHCA and other critical conditions. On the policy front, the Fire Bureau has also implemented a comprehensive pre-hospital notification system since 2023. Through this system, emergency medical service personnel can immediately relay critical patient information—such as suspected strokes or myocardial infarctions—to receiving hospitals, enabling medical teams to prepare in advance for emergency interventions. Between 2023 and 2024, the system successfully facilitated the early notification of 1,507 stroke cases and 146 myocardial infarction cases, gaining an average of 10 to 15 valuable minutes for life-saving treatment.
In addition, the Fire Bureau has led the implementation of a QR code-based patient data scanning system, in collaboration with all 22 hospitals designated to take charge of emergency medical treatment in the city. Upon delivering a patient to the emergency department, emergency medical service personnel can scan a hospital-generated QR code using a service tablet, which instantly imports the patient’s information and physiological data recorded at the hospital. This greatly enhances the efficiency of patient handovers, reduces in-hospital waiting time, and improves the overall effectiveness of subsequent emergency operations. In terms of innovative manpower systems, Taichung City became the first in the country to establish a Volunteer Medical Director Unit in June 2023. Composed of certified medical directors, this unit offers 24/7 remote medical consultation services to support emergency medical service personnel in managing complex cases that require physician judgment. In highly specialized scenarios such as amputations or anesthesia administration, the unit’s physicians can also be dispatched directly to the scene to collaborate with paramedics, thereby significantly elevating the overall quality of pre-hospital emergency care.
The Fire Bureau noted that, in an effort to align pre-hospital and in-hospital assessment standards, it has taken the lead in formulating and fully implementing the Taichung City Government Fire Bureau Pre-Hospital Five-Level Triage Criteria, modeled after the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Emergency Department Five-Level Triage Criteria. This approach standardizes the classification of patient severity across all emergency cases. Integrated with the cloud-based pre-hospital notification system, it has completely replaced the traditional radio reporting method. Emergency departments are now able to receive patient condition updates in advance. At the same time, it reduces the communication burden on dispatch centers and enables paramedics to concentrate more effectively on handling critical emergencies.
To enhance operational effectiveness, the Fire Bureau launched a pilot “dual-dispatch” system on December 1, 2023, in urban areas of Taichung. Under this system, when a caller reports a potentially life-threatening emergency, the command center deploys not only a standard ambulance but also a specialized rescue unit composed of two EMTPs to the scene simultaneously. This coordinated response enables the timely administration of advanced life-saving interventions. This system is expected to improve survival rates in critical cases. Depending on personnel availability, the bureau plans to gradually expand the system to other densely populated areas such as Fengyuan and the Tun District in the future.
In a recent road safety meeting, Mayor Lu noted that the city government is committed to building an smart emergency care network by integrating institutional innovation, technological applications, and professional personnel. This ensures that Taichung residents receive the most immediate and efficient life-saving assistance during critical moments. The Fire Bureau emphasized that it will continue to strengthen cross-agency information integration, data management, and the application of mobile technology. In collaboration with the Health Bureau, it will also advance the installation of public AEDs and promote public education in emergency response. Efforts to expand CPR and AED training programs will further support the vision of “CPR and emergency response skills for all, accessible emergency care everywhere.” Upholding the core values of efficiency, precision, and professionalism, the Fire Bureau will steadily pursue system upgrades, equipment modernization, and personnel optimization, with the goal of establishing Taichung as a national model city for emergency medical services and safeguarding the lives of its citizens.