It was found that a high school student who showed seizure symptoms in Busan last month and ultimately died in an ambulance after failing to find an emergency room was refused admission by hospitals 14 times.
According to materials received by Yang Bu-nam, a member of the Public Administration and Security Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, from the 119 emergency medical service and the Busan Fire Headquarters on the 22nd, a report from a teacher that a male student had collapsed and was convulsing but breathing at a high school in Busan was filed with 119 at about 6:17 a.m. on the 20th.
The 119 crew arrived on scene at about 6:33 a.m., 16 minutes after the report was received. At the time, the patient was in a stupor and thrashing severely due to convulsions. Based on the severity triage criteria (Pre-KTAS), the crew classified the patient as level 2 (urgent), the second of five levels, and, following guidelines, began calling regional emergency medical centers capable of treating seizure patients, focusing on regional and local emergency medical centers.
The crew requested admission for the patient from Haeundae Paik Hospital at 6:44 a.m., Dong-A University Hospital at 6:49 a.m., Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital at 6:50 a.m., and from Busan Paik Hospital and Pusan National University Hospital at 7 a.m. However, the hospitals declined, saying "pediatric ICU not available," "pediatric neurology not available," and "we will confirm and call back."
Saying that the crew was having difficulty both treating the seizure patient and searching for a hospital, the team asked the Busan Fire Service emergency medical control center to help select a hospital. According to the call transcript at the time, the crew said, "All three crew members are attending to the patient. Hospital A cannot take the patient, hospital B cannot take the patient, and hospital C is refusing, saying it cannot provide pediatrics. Please find a hospital that can treat the patient. We are short on hands."
The emergency medical control center replied, "We will look into hospitals in other provinces." The center checked with Changwon Hanmaeum Hospital, Haeundae Paik Hospital, Pusan National University Hospital, Dong-A University Hospital, Busan Paik Hospital, Dong-Eui Hospital, and Kosin University Gospel Hospital to see if they could accept the patient, but all refused.
Then, at about 7:25 a.m., when the patient's consciousness declined and cardiac arrest occurred, the crew raised the patient's severity classification to level 1 (resuscitation). After that, the call-taking unit (119 dispatch) contacted Busan Medical Center at about 7:27 a.m., but the hospital refused admission, saying "pediatric cardiac arrest not possible."
At about 7:30 a.m., the crew received confirmation from Daedong Hospital, the 15th facility they contacted, that it could accept the patient, and the patient arrived at the hospital at 7:35 a.m., 1 hour and 18 minutes after the report was received.
In this case, although the patient was a third-year high school student, most hospitals refused admission on the grounds that "it is difficult to treat pediatric patients."
Yang said, "Incidents in which emergency patients lose their lives because they cannot receive hospital treatment in time must not be repeated," adding, "It is time for the National Assembly, the fire service, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the medical community to put their heads together to come up with practical institutional improvement measures."