The Design Practice Group within the Think Tank Unit and the Future of medicine Group within the Medicine and Health Unit of Kyushu University’s Headquarters for the Designing of Future Society have held a series of study groups involving numerous departments across the university to examine the issue of ambulance usage, approaching it as a form of ‘comprehensive knowledge’. This is an example of the university putting ‘comprehensive knowledge’ into practice. Students analysed data on approximately 500,000 ambulance call-outs in Fukuoka City and structured the key issues using diverse approaches spanning emergency medicine, information science, economics, law and design. Furthermore, they organised the dozens of ideas generated through collaborative work with citizens—including at Science Cafés—into eight distinct areas. The analysis revealed Fukuoka City’s structural strengths: the high quality of medical care, evidenced by survival and social reintegration rates following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest that rank among the highest in the country; the strong community spirit reflected in the high rates of citizen use of AEDs and CPR; and the commitment of the local government and fire service to maintaining a high operational capacity despite rising call volumes. Whilst we have not yet reached the stage of identifying a definitive solution (‘killer solution’), we have completed the organisation of key issues and approaches, thereby identifying Fukuoka’s potential. Moving forward, with a view to collaborating with businesses and other organisations, we will proceed to examine specific solutions and develop an educational programme for the coming financial year.
Students and academic staff will present some of the findings from this project at the Fukuoka Society of Emergency Medicine conference, to be held on 12 September at the Kyushu University Hospital campus. For details of the report (170 pages in total / 8 chapters plus an appendix – provisional) and the data collection, please visit the dedicated website (https://ogata-design-office.jp/99/).
This initiative was carried out primarily by the Design Practice Group within the Think Tank Unit of the Future Society Design Headquarters and the Future Healthcare Group within the Healthcare and Wellness Unit, and involved study groups comprising multiple university departments, the analysis of approximately 500,000 data points by students, and dialogue and co-creation with members of the public through events such as science cafés.
