This image shows an ambulance transferring a patient to an emergency room. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
BUSAN, Dec. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — A 10-year-old girl in Busan was turned away by more than a dozen hospitals earlier this week as emergency responders struggled for over an hour to find a facility willing to treat her, according to ambulance logs released by opposition lawmakers on Wednesday.
The incident, which unfolded on the morning of Dec. 15, has intensified concerns about the collapse of pediatric emergency care in South Korea’s second-largest city.
According to data provided by Reps. Lee Hae-sik and Yang Bu-nam of the Democratic Party, the child began convulsing and lost consciousness after receiving an IV injection at a pediatric clinic in the city’s Saha District. The attending physician alerted emergency services at 10:01 a.m., requesting immediate transfer to a major hospital.
Paramedics arrived 11 minutes later and began calling nearby university hospitals. Within minutes, all four major institutions—Kosin University Hospital, Pusan National University Hospital, Dong-A University Hospital, and Inje University’s Busan Paik Hospital—refused the patient, citing an inability to provide pediatric care. The refusals came in as quickly as three to eleven minutes after each request.
Emergency responders then contacted a second tier of hospitals, including Samyook Busan Hospital and several Catholic-affiliated institutions. All declined, citing staffing shortages or lack of pediatric services.
As panic grew, the paramedics turned to the Busan Fire Disaster Headquarters’ emergency management center for help. Recorded calls show the crew pleading for assistance: “We’ve called everything nearby… No one will take her,” one responder said.
Only after the intervention of the center did Haeundae Paik Hospital agree to provide temporary emergency treatment—though not full admission. While en route, officials received confirmation that On General Hospital could accept pediatric patients, prompting a second detour.
The girl arrived at On General Hospital 51 minutes after the search began. She was in cardiac arrest but regained spontaneous circulation after emergency resuscitation. Her condition, however, remained critical; she never regained consciousness and struggled to breathe. At her parents’ request, she was later transferred once again—this time to Busan Paik Hospital, which had initially refused her.
From the initial emergency call to final admission, the process took 96 minutes.
A medical expert cited in the report described the case as a grave warning. “What’s more terrifying than a drug reaction is the reality that no hospital will take a child in a life-or-death situation,” the expert said. “This shows that the collapse of pediatric emergency care in Busan is no longer an exceptional tragedy but a systemic failure.”
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
