[CARD NEWS] 200 billion won couldn’t stop a two-year-old boy from dying

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[CARD NEWS] 200 billion won couldn’t stop a two-year-old boy from dying

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200 billion won couldn’t stop a two-year-old boy from dying

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1)
A young boy died painfully on Oct. 1.
The two-year-old, Kim Min-geon, was rejected from 13 hospitals despite his severe injuries.

2) The boy was hit by a truck while crossing a street with his grandmother in downtown Jeonju, North Jeolla. He suffered severe external injuries, as his right pelvis was fractured.

3) The boy was immediately brought to Chonbuk National University Hospital, but couldn’t undergo surgery as the hospital lacked open operating rooms.

4) “No one here has expertise in pediatric surgery at this moment.”
“Microsurgical treatment is not available.”
“There is no doctor who can operate on major injuries.”
“There are too many inpatients here.”
The medical team contacted 13 hospitals nationwide to operate on Kim, but all of them turned him down.

5) Among those 13 hospitals, six were trauma centers specially equipped for trauma and acute care surgery for patients just like Kim.

6)
Management Criteria
1. Treatment of severely injured patients must be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
‘Create a rapid-communication and overnight-watch system’
2. ‘For each injury treatment field, establish special medical care units and deploy proper numbers of doctors and traumatologists.’
3. For emergency cases, externally injured patients get preferential treatment, which includes the use of medical facilities and equipment.
‘Make sure emergency patients can be treated within the hour following the injury.’
The trauma center’s purpose was meaningless, as the center was not in operation at all for seven hours.

7)
“For seven hours, I was in agony watching my son dying, but couldn’t do anything but wait.”
- Kim’s father
While the medical team contacted other available hospitals, Kim’s parents had to endure unbelievable wait times.

8)
Because the Patient Transport Center, which manages patients transferring, was not in operation in the Jeonju area, the medical team had to stay on the phone for three hours.

9)
Eventually, around 9 p.m., Ajou University Hospital decided to accept Kim for an operation.
At this time, however, an emergency helicopter was a problem.

10)
“We tried many times to get in touch with Chonbuk National University hospital to confirm whether the situation was favorable to fly a helicopter and check the status of the patient, but couldn’t reach them for an hour as the hospital was in an urgent situation.”
- Director of National 119 Rescue Services
The National 119 Rescue Services of Chonbuk didn’t have the personnel to pilot a helicopter. Even the departure of helicopter from a central 119 location was postponed due to poor communication.

11) Nothing worked properly at every step of the process, from the central operation to the patient transporting system between the centers. It was a disaster.

12) Of course, we can’t blame it all on the hospital and the doctors.

13) There are only about 30 pediatric surgeons nationwide, but even they are working under poor condition. Over half of the pediatricians are pressured to treat patients from other disciplines to improve their performance record.

14) “When an emergency patient dies during an operation, the doctor who was in charge can be punished for a crime similar to homicide. Who would want to take responsibility for severely injured patients with such a policy? This misfortune resulted from the government’s inappropriate policy.” - A doctor quoted by a medical newspaper
Hospitals have a lack of surgeons in general. What makes the situation worse is that doctors tend to avoid performing demanding operations, because families of patients who die can file lawsuits against them.

15) However, there is no excuse for the death of the two-year-old boy.
We must conduct a general inspection of the trauma centers and improve their poor medical environment. The government invested 200 billion won in trauma centers, but this tragedy calls for more comprehensive measures.



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