Crowd disaster in South Korea leaves devastation, with at least 154 fatalities so far

What was meant to be a weekend of celebration and fun over the halloween holidays has tragically turned into one of the country’s worst-ever disasters. On Saturday many countries worldwide were celebrating Halloween with fancy dress parties and it was the first time Seoul had enjoyed the weekend after the covid-19 restrictions were lifted. In the capital’s nightlife district of Itaewon, crowds are most definitely not unusual, especially in the narrow street where the crowd surge took place.

The crowd surge cause remains unclear, but witnesses stated there was no crowd control prior to the incident.

According to CNN, multiple witnesses told them that there was ‘little to no’ crowd control although this hasn’t been confirmed by any authorities. With a city of almost 10 million people, the locals see crowds in their subways and streets pretty often, but this Saturday was unlike any other usual evening. Currently, authorities are continuing their investigations of the incident and the country is going through a week-long mourning period. Nearly all of the victims have been identified, and more than a dozen embassies around the world have confirmed victims from their country, such as the U.S, China, Japan, Australia, Norway and more. 

Firstly, we want to send our deepest condolences to the victims' families and friends who tragically lost their lives or were injured in the incident, as well as the people of South Korea. 

It is always devastating to hear of such incidents take place, especially when it is so out of the ordinary for the country. We at TyTek are deeply saddened for all of those affected and we are amongst the world showing our support. The first emergency calls came in around 10:24 when authorities and first responders rushed to the scene, but the volume of people made it difficult for people to get the assistance they needed. We praise all of those zero and first responders who provided life-saving help, as you never know where you will be a witness to such an emergency. 

When a crowd surge begins to appear, it can be difficult to contain as it descends into panic. We believe that events such as public crowd surges should be equally as important to raise awareness for as other public emergencies such as shootings. Whilst it has been stated that it’s rare in South Korea to see so many fatalities from a crowd, having crowded streets and subways in general is not so rare and in fact very heard of in many countries. Therefore, it is super important that we as the public and first responders are as prepared as possible to be able to administer critical care in these scenarios.

With public spaces vulnerable, PTENSYS is a next generation ‘insurance policy’ that prepares you for virtually every emergency care situation.

Defibrillators and fire extinguishers are placed in public spaces as standard and we believe the inclusion of PTENSYS should be equally valid. It is our dedication to educate, equip and empower you to save lives during the very worst of circumstances, which is why we developed the PTENSYS trauma system. We believe hospitals can use our PTENSYS Trauma System in support of Fire Depts and EMS in providing triage/stabilization services during a Mass Casualty Incident. A part of this system includes the unique MCI bag, made to provide care in a serious mass emergency such as a crowd surge. Categorically, nobody before us in the emergency medical industry has designed a trauma kit that folds out to allow side-by-side working with added extendable floodlights. This unique feature takes care of poor visibility and frees the hands of rescuers while bringing some order to a chaotic situation.

Lastly, if anybody would like to gain more knowledge on first aid care such as severe bleeding control and more, please visit our education hub or contact us if you would like to inquire about installing any of our products. We are more than happy to help and empower you with emergency preparedness wherever possible.

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