By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-09-25 11:18:56 | Updated at 2024-09-30 15:28:11
5 days ago
A South Korean woman has become the latest casualty of a months-long strike by doctors after first responders called 92 times and failed to find a hospital that could admit her for a serious heart condition during a major holiday.
The government told an opposition lawmaker on Monday that the victim, suffering from multiple cardiac arrests, was unconscious when emergency personnel arrived at her Busan home last Tuesday.
Paramedics contacted 10 hospitals, but none had doctors qualified to treat her during Chuseok, one of South Korea’s biggest holidays.
A medical centre finally agreed to admit the patient in her 30s, even though it lacked the resources to carry out complex neurosurgical procedures.
The woman received CPR at the hospital, which temporarily improved her condition. But, she needed care at a larger facility. Emergency workers contacted several larger hospitals, but they declined the request, citing a shortage of doctors.
