The Taipei City Government should provide an emergency medical service at the Maokong Gondola, independent Taipei City Councilor Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) said yesterday.
Chen’s call follows the death of a 70-year-old woman, who had a heart attack at Maokong Station last month and later died at Wanfang Hospital.
The woman, surnamed Liu, had to wait 45 minutes for an ambulance because there were no medical facilities at the gondola station, Chen said.
“The incident highlighted the poor emergency services available at the Maokong Gondola. It is ridiculous that there’s not even one medical station at such a popular attraction,” Chen said.
Liu’s son said his mother went with friends to ride the gondola on June 11.
Maokong Station staff performed CPR after she passed out and called an ambulance, but were unable to revive her.
“Her life could have been saved if there had been an emergency medical room and a professional medical team at the gondola,” he said.
Lin’s family yesterday accused Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), operator of the gondola system, of failing to discuss its responsibility for what happened.
The gondola system is a major tourist attraction, drawing more than 10,000 visitors on weekends, and so it should provide basic first aid services, Chen said.
“The city government has already ignored the safety issue of the gondola by reopening it despite concerns about the support pillars. The lack of medical service poses another threat to passengers’ safety,” he said.
Huang Chin-hsin (黃清信), deputy director of the gondola, said each station in the gondola was equipped with first-aid boxes and stretchers. Station personnel are also given basic first aid training.
“We handled the incident following standard procedures and the ambulance arrived as quickly as possible,” Huang said, adding that the company had sent representatives to attend Liu’s funeral and would continue to assist the family.
The Taipei City Fire Department said there were no regulations stipulating recreational facilities must have on-site medical facilities.
A department spokesperson said more ambulances would be put on standby at the gondola system when large-scale events are held there.
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