Over 10,000 Emergency Admission Requests... Still 'Searching Hospitals Far and Wide'

Over 10,000 Emergency Admission Requests... 9% Rejected
On-site: "Most Rejections Due to 'Lack of Hospital Beds'"
Experts: "Clear Division of Responsibility Needed at Each Procedure"

#On the morning of the 10th, around midnight, a woman in her 20s, Ms. A, who attempted an extreme act while live streaming on social media (SNS) at an apartment complex in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, was rescued by the police. Thanks to the police's swift action, it took less than 20 minutes from the time of the report to the rescue, but the problem came afterward. To provide treatment and protection for Ms. A, the police searched for hospitals in Seoul and the metropolitan area that could accept emergency admissions, but it was not easy to find one. Eventually, after about six hours, emergency admission was arranged at a hospital in the metropolitan area. The police officers dispatched to the scene experienced an exhausting situation.

Frontline police officers responsible for protecting individuals with mental illnesses are facing difficulties in finding hospitals that can accept emergency admissions. There are calls to clearly divide the responsibilities for procedures from dispatch to admission when related incidents occur.

According to statistics from the National Police Agency on the 15th, the number of emergency admission requests last year was 10,133, of which 1,002 were rejected, accounting for 9.89% of the total. According to the Mental Health Act, the police can request emergency admission to a psychiatric medical institution with a doctor's consent if a person suspected of having a mental illness is highly likely to harm themselves or others and the situation is urgent. In such cases, emergency admission can be enforced for up to 72 hours.

The proportion of rejections has been increasing year by year. In 2019, admissions of mentally ill patients accounted for 2.83% of all emergency admissions. However, in 2020 it was 6.08%, in 2021 it was 8%, and last year it rose to 9.89%, more than tripling in three years.

On the ground, it is frequently reported that rejections occur due to a lack of available hospital beds. An analysis by the National Police Agency of nationwide emergency admission cases requested by the police over the past three years showed that most rejections or delays were due to a shortage of available beds or the absence of a responsible doctor.

In April last year, in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, a man in his 30s, Mr. B, who failed to be admitted for emergency care, died by suicide. The police received a report from his family that Mr. B was in poor condition and spent about six hours calling and visiting around 30 hospitals in the metropolitan area to find an available bed but failed. Ultimately, the man returned home with his family and was found dead the next morning.

A frontline police officer in Seoul lamented, "Since there are no properly equipped hospitals in the jurisdiction, there have been cases where emergency admission measures had to be taken as far away as Incheon and Gyeonggi Province," adding, "You can consider the metropolitan area as all connected." Additionally, during nights, weekends, and holidays, the absence of on-duty doctors to assess admission eligibility also makes admission difficult.

As concerns arose that police efficiency in maintaining public order was declining due to their involvement in patient admission duties, the National Police Agency decided in October last year to expand the operation of emergency admission field support teams nationwide at the provincial police agency level. In Seoul, the 'Mental Health Emergency Response Center' was launched by combining police and specialized personnel from the Seoul Mental Health Welfare Center.

While frontline police acknowledge the support teams have eased some burdens, they still feel the pressure of admission duties. Another police officer said, "Even with support teams, if there are no beds, there is no solution," adding, "It would also be difficult for one center to support all police stations across Seoul."

Experts emphasize the need to clearly divide the responsible parties at each stage of the procedure. Professor Lee Yun-ho of Dongguk University's Department of Police Administration said, "The emergency relief system must function properly," and added, "The police should handle the incident from the report until taking charge of the case, but if admission is necessary, a system should be well established to transfer the case to another party at the scene." He stressed, "Admission duties should not become an inherent responsibility of the police."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.