[News Today] ER PATIENTS DOWN 30% OVER CHUSEOK

[LEAD]
The existing medical service gap left many concerned of an ER crisis, especially over the long Chuseok holiday. It was found that there were fewer ER visits over the holiday. The government continues urging medical participation in the bipartisan council.

[REPORT]
An emergency room at a university hospital before the Chuseok holiday.

A man suffering from a fall is wheeled into the hospital on a gurney by paramedics.

Paramedic/ (VOICE MODIFIED)
We came to this ER after making 7 calls. ERs are refusing to take patients because they don't have any doctors.

There were concerns over ER capacity for the Chuseok holiday as doctors were in short supply since trainee doctors had walked out. Fortunately, however, there appears to have been no massive crisis.

As of September 17th, the day of Chuseok, a daily average of some 27,500 patients had come to the ERs since Saturday, the beginning of the Chuseok weekend.

The number fell 25% compared to this Seol holiday and more than 30% from last year's Chuseok.

The decrease is largely attributed to people with mild symptoms refraining from visiting the ERs. About 16,000 mild cases visited ERs per day on average, roughly 37% down from last year's Chuseok holiday.

Cho Kyu-hong/ Minister of Health and Welfare
Despite a shortage of doctors, the ER system during the Chuseok holiday successfully operated around serious cases.

ERs at Seoul National University Hospital and other major hospitals in Seoul did not see extensive disruptions in medical services as feared.

However, the ER refusal issue, which refers to patients being refused emergecy care, still persisted.

In Cheongju in central Korea, a 25-week pregnant woman whose water broke barely made it into surgery after she was refused by 75 hospitals.

A Gwangju resident with a severed finger was transported to Jeonju more than 90 kilometers away.

The government claimed that the problem was caused by a lack of essential and local medical care, not by the trainee doctors' strike.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, concerned over disruptions in medical service during the Chuseok holiday, visited a children's hospital in Seoul on September 18th and emphasized that no investment on essential medicine will be spared.

Meanwhile, in relation to the malicious disclosure of the names of non-striking doctors, the government announced that investigation was requested on 43 cases and some measures have already been taken.