For stroke patients, calling 119 makes a big difference

It takes stroke patients in Korea nearly four hours on average to reach a hospital after symptoms begin, a delay that has barely improved over the past decade despite the critical importance of early treatment, researchers said Wednesday.

According to researchers in the neurology department at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, stroke patients in 2023 arrived at a hospital an average of 3.9 hours after the onset of symptoms.

Only 36.6 percent reached medical care within the first three