Inha University Hospital becomes Incheon's first KALS-EP training institution

Inha University Hospital has become the first institution in Incheon to receive official approval as a Korean Advanced Life Support Extended Program (KALS-EP) training center.

The hospital announced Monday that its Simulation Center received approval to offer KALS-EP courses on Aug. 31, following an on-site inspection by the Korean Association of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.

KALS-EP is an advanced course that goes beyond standard advanced life support training. It covers early recognition of warning signs in patients before cardiac arrest, drug and electrical treatment for complex arrhythmias such as tachycardia and bradycardia, and resuscitation team management and teamwork.

Inha University Hospital has offered advanced life support training since it was designated a KALS basic-course institution in 2016.

The newly approved advanced program is expected to strengthen emergency medical response capabilities for both the hospital's own medical staff and healthcare workers at other institutions across the region.

The Korean Association of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation visited the hospital on Aug. 28 to evaluate its training facilities, equipment, instructors, and education and assessment systems, and found that all criteria had been met.

The hospital began training instructors last year and has since certified five KALS-EP instructors, with two more currently in training. It plans to expand the instructor pool to seven by the end of this year.

Following the approval, the hospital held its first KALS-EP course — a three-day session for newly recruited interns — in the second half of the year.

"We have established an educational foundation for systematically responding to a wide range of emergency situations that arise before cardiac arrest," said Shin Seung-yeol, director of the hospital's Simulation Center and a professor of emergency medicine. "We will continue to expand our pool of specialist instructors and contribute to raising the standard of emergency medicine in the region."