Lack of specialists forced severely injured patient to wander around ERs

After two Korean Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) employees were killed and one seriously injured in a recent collision with an inspection vehicle at Guro Station on Seoul Subway Line 1, the injured worker could not undergo surgery until 16 hours later, according to a recent report.

The reason for the delay was the absence of emergency medicine specialists.

According to data submitted to Rep. Kim Sun-min of the Rebuilding Korea Party, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee by the National Fire Agency, the National Medical Center (NMC), and KORAIL, the worker who fractured his right leg in a collision with a work vehicle at 2:16 a.m. on Aug. 9, could undergo surgery at 6:07 p.m., 15 hours and 51 minutes after the accident.

The 119 paramedics arrived at the scene 10 minutes after the accident. They provided first aid to the injured worker. The rescue workers contacted the severe trauma center at Korea University Guro Hospital, located four minutes away. Still, they were told that it was difficult to accept the patient.

The paramedics then contacted the next closest NMC Severe Trauma Center through a hotline. They received confirmation that it could accommodate the patient, and they transferred him to NMC at around 3:21 a.m., one hour and five minutes after the accident.

However, after the examination, the NMC informed the paramedics that the injured worker needed emergency surgery for a fractured femur and pelvis but that there were no orthopedic surgeons available to perform emergency surgery.

After receiving the notification that emergency surgery was possible at Seoul Yonsei Hospital in Mapo-gu, they transferred him to the hospital via a private ambulance. The patient was transferred to Seoul Yonsei Hospital at 5 a.m., two hours and 44 minutes after the accident.

The patient underwent surgery to suture his head wound at Seoul Yonsei Hospital but was told that surgery for his femur fracture was not possible, and he was transferred to One Top Hospital in Gangseo-gu. At the hospital, the patient could undergo surgery for his femur fracture at 6:07 p.m., 15 hours and 51 minutes after the accident.

Rep. Kim pointed out that many emergency patients were not operated on at various hospitals due to the absence of specialists.

According to another data Kim received from the National Fire Agency, 41 percent of the 2,645 re-transfers in the first half of 2024, or 1,081 cases, were due to the absence of a specialist. The provision of primary first aid accounted for 359 cases, followed by the lack of beds, with 338 cases.

“Korea's emergency medical system is collapsing. We have warned about the shortage of specialists. Still, the government says that it is responding sufficiently and that there is no problem,” Rep. Kim said. ”The essential and emergency medical care that the Yoon Suk Yeol administration plans to save by increasing the number of medical school students by 2,000 is collapsing rapidly like this.”

Rep. Kim pointed out that Korea needs more doctors for the future, but the country must also urgently come up with ways to expand emergency and essential medical care today to minimize the number of people suffering from emergency room overcrowding.

“I hope President Yoon will resolve the ongoing conflict and offer a plan to expand emergency and essential medical care as soon as possible,” Kim added.