Patient group: “What is more important than forced admission to the emergency room is strengthening the background treatment system.”

Regarding the passage of the amendment to the Emergency Medical Services Act in the National Assembly to resolve the phenomenon of non-admission to emergency rooms, patient groups emphasized that it is more important to improve the emergency and back-up treatment system than to take patients to the emergency room.

In a statement issued on the 8th, the Korea Association for Severe Diseases said, "We sympathize with the political circles' intention to solve the problem of so-called 'emergency room hit-and-run', where emergency patients wander on the streets and in ambulances without being able to find a hospital," but pointed out that "the revision of the law should not act as a law to 'send patients to any hospital.'"

The Association for Severe Diseases explained, "The most important thing when the 119 ambulance transports a patient is not simply finding a hospital with an empty room in the emergency room," and added, "Patients with myocardial infarction should be transferred to a hospital that can immediately perform cardiovascular procedures, and patients with cerebral hemorrhage should be transferred to a hospital that can perform neurosurgery and intensive care."

He added, "The emergency patient transport system must be able to check in real time whether the hospital's specialists are working, whether surgery is possible, whether the intensive care unit is operating, whether tests and procedures are possible, and whether background care is available."

They emphasized, "The most concerning part of the amendment is the possibility that 'acceptance' itself will be accepted as the outcome of policy," and that "the final outcome of emergency medical care should be evaluated by whether the patient received the necessary treatment within an appropriate time."

The Federation for Severe Diseases argued that in the process of enforcing the law, the government must "link information from 119 and the central emergency medical system in real time and clearly unify the command and coordination system for the transfer and hospital selection process," and added, "When designating a priority hospital, it must also check the availability of specialists, operating rooms, intensive care units, procedures, and background care necessary for the patient's disease."

He also pointed out, "We must also strengthen the background medical care system in each region to prevent repeated re-discharges and long waits in the emergency room. Otherwise, if we rely only on forced acceptance and exemption from responsibility, emergency room cases can only be moved from outside the hospital to inside the hospital."