A Sewol passenger died after not being transported to hospital after rescue

rananicolee

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A surviving passenger from the Sewol ferry that was discovered on site after the sinking was not transported to the hospital for nearly five hours despite still having a pulse, it has been learned. Although the passenger could have been transported within 20 minutes by emergency helicopter, the patient was instead transferred four times from one boat to another before eventually being pronounced dead on arrival at Mokpo Hankook Hospital four hours and 41 minutes later.


A special committee investigating humidifier disinfectant-related deaths and injuries and the Sewol ferry sinking addressed the issue of rescue delays during an Oct. 31 press conference at Post Tower in Seoul’s Jung (Central) District. The committee based its conclusions on interim findings from an investigation on the effectiveness of the search and rescue effort following the Sewol tragedy. According to details shared by the committee, the Korea Coast Guard located a student from Danwon High School in Ansan -- identified by the initial “K” -- floating in the sea around 100m from the site of the ferry sinking at around 5:24 pm on Apr. 16, 2014. At 5:30 pm, the student was transferred to Coast Guard vessel No. 3009, where members of the Coast Guard leadership including Kim Su-hyeon, chief of the West Sea office, and coast guard chief Kim Seok-gyun were on board at the time. At 5:35 pm, a remote medical system connecting No. 3009 with Mokpo Hankook Hospital was initiated. K’s vital signs transmitted to the hospital at around 5:59 pm showed an irregular pulse and 69% oxygen saturation. Emergency physicians at the hospital immediately ordered continued CPR efforts and K’s transportation to the hospital. Oxygen saturation below 90% is typically classified as hypoxia; a level of 69% requires emergency treatment.


But K was left on the vessel in spite of the hospital’s orders. At around 6:35 pm, an emergency helicopter arrived on No. 3009, and K was loaded onto a stretcher and taken to the heliport by emergency rescue workers and Coast Guard staff. Because the helicopter could land on the vessel at the time, officials were discussing the use of a line to transport K when a message the transfer of a “drowning victim” to another boat was made over the PA system and the emergency helicopter turned back. The investigative committee believes the Coast Guard had made the internal conclusion that K had died.

Helicopters transported Coast Guard officials instead of victim off boat

The committee raised questions about the Coast Guard independently determining that K was dead, despite physicians ordering the victim to be transported immediately to a hospital. Around the same time, another helicopter identified as B517 made a landing on vessel No. 3009 and departed around 20 minutes later -- carrying not K, but then Coast Guard Chief Kim Seok-gyun. Another helicopter was present aboard No. 3009 at 5:40 pm, 20 minutes after K was taken onto the vessel, and departed for Mokpo at 5:44 pm carrying Kim Su-hyeon, then the chief of the Coast Guard’s West Sea office. In other words, K was not taken to the hospital by helicopter despite three opportunities to do so.


K was eventually transferred to a smaller boat identified as P22 at 6:40 pm and then again to boat P112 at around 7 pm. Thirty minutes later, the body was transferred again to boat P39 before finally arriving at the hospital at 10:05 that evening. In all, four hours and 41 minutes had elapsed, with K being passed among five boats, including the one K was taken to after first being discovered.


With low oxygen saturation and an irregular pulse, it cannot be known for certain whether K would have survived even if the transportation had taken place immediately. But the committee’s conclusion was that the Coast Guard and the Park Geun-hye administration did not prioritize saving the lives of the Sewol tragedy’s victims.


“To go by the vital signs alone, the chances of survival were faint,” said Park Byeong-woo, head of the committee’s Sewol tragedy investigation bureau. “But it also wasn’t a situation where they could make a conclusive death determination.”


“We believe the most appropriate response would have been to transport [K] to the hospital immediately upon rescue to receive treatment from professionals,” Park added.


By Kwon Ji-dam and Jung Hwang-bong, staff reporters


 

anh

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that's just.. upsetting. even if it's just one life out of many, that's still one person who potentially could've been saved and be with their family today
 

rosie

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Why was this only revealed now? This is terrible.
 
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