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Doctors oppose bill giving emergency dispatchers more authority

Published: 19 Nov. 2025, 20:58

An ambulance transports emergency patients at a university hospital in Seoul. [NEWS1]

Doctors are pushing back against a bill that would give emergency dispatchers more authority to assign patients to hospitals, warning that the move could overwhelm some facilities and jeopardize the emergency care system.

The bill came on the heels of a case last month where a high school student in Busan died after emergency responders were unable to find a hospital willing to admit him for nearly an hour, according to local authorities on Wednesday. Though the student had fallen from a school building, the initial emergency call did not mention the fall, and no external trauma was immediately apparent.

The 119 emergency hotline received a report at 6:17 a.m. on Oct. 20 stating that a student at a local high school was experiencing severe convulsions, according to the Busan Fire and Disaster Headquarters on Wednesday. Paramedics arrived on the scene within 16 minutes.

Upon arrival, the rescue team assessed that the student had no visible external injuries and was semiconscious, responding to verbal stimuli. He was foaming at the mouth and convulsing, which led paramedics to suspect a seizure disorder such as epilepsy.

The student was classified as Level 2 under the Pre-KTAS (Korean Triage and Acuity Scale), which guides emergency responders in determining the severity of a patient’s condition and the appropriate medical facility. Paramedics contacted four major hospitals in Busan but were reportedly told that the student could not be accepted due to a lack of available pediatric neurology support.

A paramedic organizes an ambulance at a regional emergency medical center in a Seoul hospital. [NEWS1]

The Fire Department’s emergency medical dispatch center also contacted eight hospitals in the region, including in nearby Changwon, South Gyeongsang, but none were able to take the patient.

During the delay, the student’s condition deteriorated to cardiac arrest, elevating his triage rating to Level 1, which mandates immediate hospital admission regardless of capacity. He was eventually transferred to a hospital in Busan, but was pronounced dead about an hour after the initial report.

The incident has sparked debate over whether the paramedics properly assessed and communicated the student’s condition. The Busan Fire Department later confirmed that the student had, in fact, suffered trauma to the lower back from a fall, but the injury was obscured by clothing and only discovered during hospital treatment.

Lee Hyung-min, second from left, head of the Korean Emergency Medical Association, and other officials hold placards before a press conference at the Korean Medical Association in Yongsan District, Seoul, on Nov. 7. [YONHAP]

“A review of the emergency call revealed that the fall was never mentioned,” a fire official said. “The student only displayed seizure-like symptoms, so we contacted hospitals with neurology departments. Had the trauma been apparent, we would have relayed that information as well.”

A medical source noted that it remains unclear whether the failure to detect trauma was a shortcoming by emergency responders, or if hospitals acted too cautiously by declining a high school-aged patient on the grounds of lacking pediatric neurology.

Some have suggested that a prevailing atmosphere of defensive medicine may have influenced hospital decisions. This follows a controversial ruling in October 2023 by the Seoul High Court, which ordered a general surgeon to pay 1 billion won ($682,000) in damages after operating on a five-day-old infant in the absence of a pediatric surgeon, resulting in permanent disability.

Lawmakers pass a revision to the Emergency Medical Services Act during a plenary session of the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Oct. 26. [NEWS1]

The case reportedly made hospitals more hesitant to admit critically ill pediatric patients without specialized staff available.

To address such “emergency ping-pong” scenarios, lawmakers are seeking to revise the Emergency Medical Services Act. A proposed amendment spearheaded by liberal Democratic Party Rep. Kim Yoon would grant the 119 emergency medical dispatch center the authority to coordinate patient transfers directly, in cooperation with central and regional emergency response centers.

The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine on Wednesday issued a statement opposing the bill, warning that giving dispatch centers unilateral authority to assign hospitals could result in “queues of ambulances in front of certain emergency facilities.”

“Whether to accept a patient is a medical decision requiring professional judgment,” said the Korean Emergency Medical Association, criticizing the proposal in a recent press conference. “Forcing it through administrative convenience could lead to the collapse of the emergency care system.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM MIN-JU [[email protected]]