Daegu City Mobilizes to Protect the Golden Hour for Critically Ill Emergency Patients

【Financial News, Daegu = Reporter Jang-wook Kim】Daegu Metropolitan City is making every effort to protect the golden hour for critically ill emergency patients.
Daegu Metropolitan City will launch the nation's first Daegu Responsibility-Based Emergency Medical Legal Support Project so that critically ill emergency patients can receive prompt treatment within the golden hour.
Jae-hong Lee, head of the Health and Welfare Bureau, emphasized, "This project is a safeguard that eases the legal burden medical staff may face when prioritizing the acceptance of critically ill emergency patients. We will reduce the burden on emergency medical services so that citizens can receive emergency medical care in a timely manner."
According to the city, shortages of essential local medical personnel and gaps in supporting care have recently worsened. As a result, some medical institutions have hesitated to accept patients out of concern that they could face criminal proceedings for doing so. This can lead to patients being shuttled from one emergency room to another without receiving appropriate diagnosis or treatment, causing them to miss the golden hour.
To break this vicious cycle, the city will cover necessary attorney fees during the pre-indictment police-investigation stage if criminal proceedings arise in the course of the mandatory transfer and acceptance of emergency patients. The support will be available to medical staff in emergency medicine and supporting clinical departments at six hospitals operating regional or local emergency medical centers.
The city will also operate the Daegu Responsibility-Based Emergency Medical Legal Support Team, composed of attorneys specializing in medical law. The team will provide assistance including case consultations, analysis of criminal complaints, advice on response strategies, and accompaniment to police stations.
However, cases involving clear gross negligence by medical staff will be excluded from the program. Duplicate support will not be allowed when assistance is already available from the central government or the medical institution itself.

[email protected] Jang-wook Kim Reporter