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In connection with an incident in March in which a teenager who crashed from a building in Daegu died while traveling from hospital in an ambulance, administrative action was taken against medical institutions that refused to accept patients at the time.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced today (4th) that it will take administrative action against four of the eight medical institutions involved in the incident based on joint investigations and expert meetings with the Fire Agency and Daegu City.
Four hospitals were disposed of: Daegu Fatima Hospital, Kyungbuk National University Hospital, Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital, and Daegu Catholic University Hospital, and they were suspended from receiving subsidies until the corrective order and implementation for "refusal of expropriation without justifiable reasons."
In the case of Daegu Fatima Hospital and Kyungbuk National University Hospital, fines were added for violating the duty to classify severity.
The incident occurred on March 19.
A 17-year-old patient fell from a four-story building and injured his ankle and head, and was taken to several hospitals by ambulances, but eventually died in ambulances without receiving treatment.
According to the Ministry of Welfare, the first hospital the patient visited with 119 paramedics was Daegu Fatima Hospital, a regional emergency medical center.
The doctor who was on duty at the time recommended that he be transferred to another institution because it seemed necessary to receive medical treatment through the psychiatric department.
According to the Emergency Medical Services Act, the severity of emergency patients had to be classified by considering the main symptoms, vital signs, level of consciousness, and degree of pain, but this was not done.
When paramedics called again to accommodate the emergency room, the hospital refused, citing the difficulty of providing care for psychiatric emergency patients.
The second time I visited, the patient was not treated.
When the paramedics parked the patient's car and asked for acceptance, the doctor said that severe trauma was suspected and recommended that they check with the regional trauma center.
Although they suspected severe trauma, they did not provide face-to-face patient care or classify the severity.
Since then, the 119th Emergency Situation Management Center has called the hospital's Regional Trauma Center twice, but they did not receive the patient, saying that there were no beds and they were treating other trauma patients.
The Department of Human Services said the investigation revealed that there was only one hospital bed at the time of the second referral, and many of the other patients were mildly ill.
Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital did not accept patients because other trauma patient surgeries had begun, and Daegu Catholic University Hospital did not accept patients because neurosurgery medical staff were absent due to conferences or business trips.
Investigators and experts alike determined that it was a refusal of emergency medical care without justification.
These four hospitals were ▲ Case review meeting presided over by the hospital director and measures taken by the person in charge ▲ Establishment of measures to prevent recurrence ▲ Training of all workers, including the hospital director ▲ Establishment of measures to strengthen the responsibilities and roles of specialists working in the emergency department ▲ Establishment of 119 referral protocol for referral ▲ 119 Referral medical staff response register records etc.
Kyungbuk National University Hospital, a regional emergency medical center, received 220 million won, and the other three regional emergency medical centers were suspended from paying 48 million won until the corrective order is implemented, and Daegu Fatima Hospital and Kyungbuk National University Hospital were fined 36.74 million won and 16.7 million won, respectively.
At that time, 119 requested a transfer but did not receive treatment, and in the case of other hospitals, Yeungnam University Hospital, Samil Hospital, Nazareth General Hospital, and Barobon Hospital, the investigation concluded that there was no violation of the law.
As this incident is a problem for the entire local emergency medical care system, the Ministry of Welfare recommended that Daegu City prepare transportation guidelines based on local emergency medical resource surveys and form and operate a consultation group related to the emergency medical care system.
In addition, in conjunction with the '4th Basic Plan for Emergency Medical Care' announced in March, ▲ Strengthening the evaluation of the condition of patients by emergency services during transportation and preparing a manual for selecting a transfer hospital (Fire Department) ▲ Establishing a protocol for notifying medical institutions of difficulty in accepting patients (Ministry of Welfare) ▲ Operating a permanent consultative body to review cases of difficulty in transportation by region (attempt) were also promoted.
The 4th Basic Plan includes measures such as unifying the criteria for classifying the severity of emergency patients, revamping the severity standard system, and preparing locally tailored transport guidelines and transport maps.
(Photo = Yonhap News)