發布日期:2023-02-01 15:59:20
Paramedics and police officers prepare to transfer victims of the Itaewon crowd crush tragedy to a hospital, Oct. 30. Yonhap
By Lee Hyo-jin
In the wake of the deadly large-scale crowd crush in Itaewon, which has highlighted the importance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid skills, the government is expanding CPR training to teenagers and workers at youth-related facilities.
During the crowd crush disaster that occurred on the night of Oct. 29, the paramedics, police officers and ordinary people on the streets were seen desperately performing CPR on dozens of people suffering from cardiac arrest after they were trapped and crushed in the area's narrow alleys.
CPR is an emergency lifesaving procedure involving chest compressions and rescue breathing, performed when a person's heart stops beating. Immediate CPR can double or triple the chances of survival after cardiac arrest.
The Itaewon disaster has raised public interest on the lifesaving technique. Online users are sharing on social media video clips on how to perform CPR, while many people are signing up for free training classes offered by local government offices.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced Thursday that it will expand CPR education on teenagers and workers at youth centers.
During the last three days, the ministry has distributed CPR education materials to the youth centers, while making the training course obligatory to those wishing to get employed at such facilities.
The Ministry of Education, for its part, said on Tuesday that it will increase CPR trainings at schools across the nation.
Under the current school curriculum, students in elementary, middle and high schools receive CPR training and other first aid skills for two hours per year. However, due to a lack of resources such as CPR kits, not all schools have been able to give practical training.
The education ministry said it will expand cooperation with related authorities to provide necessary education, and will revise safety education programs to include safety measures in crowded places.Students of an elementary school in Daegu participate in a CPR training class, Tuesday. Yonhap
Doctors call for Good Samaritan laws
Meanwhile, doctors pointed out that related laws should be revised in order to encourage the public to perform CPR actively in emergency situations, as people could be hesitant to do so out of fear that they could face legal liabilities in the case of any negative outcome.
Under the current medical law, if an ordinary person or a licensed medical worker who was not on duty performs CPR and it inflicts physical harm on the patient, he or she is exempted from legal liabilities. However, if the patient dies, the person who performed CPR could face "reduced" criminal punishment.
Even though the law itself is aimed at protecting those who perform the physically rough but potentially life-saving procedure, it leaves room for criminal liability when things go wrong, the doctors noted.
Although there hasn't been a case yet where someone faced criminal punishment after performing CPR, there are some cases where they have faced civil suits raised by the patient or their families, according to Park Soo-hyun, an ER doctor at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital.
"Every second matters in a cardiac emergency situation. And CPR is the only treatment that can be undertaken by non-medical personnel while waiting for medical aid. There have been many cases where CPR administered by an untrained bystander saved the patient's life," Park told The Korea Times.
"Given this, the current law does seem inappropriate in that it leaves room for a criminal penalty if the patient dies," she said.
Park said she was very surprised and touched that people immediately performed CPR on victims of the Itaewon disaster.
"Even if you know how to do CPR, it wouldn't have been easy for ordinary people to roll up their sleeves and intervene in such a traumatizing situation, where dozens of people were literally dying," she said.
Earlier in June, Rep. Shin Hyun-young of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) proposed a revision bill to the medical law which aims to encourage assistance to those in peril by limiting the liability on people who help.
Dubbed the "Good Samaritan Law," if passed, it will offer legal protection to those who give reasonable assistance to patients, in the case of a negative outcome.
"The bill will better protect patients in an emergency by encouraging people to intervene in saving lives more actively," said the doctor-turned-lawmaker. Shin proposed the bill after she saved a man suffering from cardiac arrest with CPR on a KTX train in May.
The lawmaker noted that the proposed bill will not hold people liable of negligence when providing such assistance.