The Emergency Medical Center in Suwon and Euijeongbu has started providing round-the-clock simultaneous interpretation service for a foreigner patient requiring first aid. 

A foreigner in the province requiring first aid may call 1339 (or 031-1139 in the case of a cellular phone) at any time to get simultaneous interpretation service concerning information on medical institutions or consultation about diseases. 

Under the system, which is provided by the Gyeonggi Provincial Office, a multipartite conversation between the foreigner patient, the Emergency Medical Center and the interpreter can be made in four languages, i.e. English, Japanese, Chinese and Russian. Thus, 80,000 foreigners speaking these languages in the province can benefit from the service. 

A provincial official said, “The new service will be of great help for foreigners in trouble. Even medical institutions and business owners employing migrant workers welcome the service.”