[Anchor]

Regional neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) are pushed to the brink, to the point where the loss of just one doctor can force them to shut down.

Our reporting team visited the scene and found a doctor on duty who had been working for a staggering 64 hours. Reporter Han Sung-hee covers the precarious reality of neonatal intensive care units.

[Reporter]

It is 5:50 PM, just before the start of the night shift.

Professor Lee Byeong-guk, who treats neonatal patients in the Sejong and North Chungcheong Province regions, has already been working for 40 hours since early yesterday morning.

[Lee Byeong-guk/Professor of Neonatal Intensive Care, Sejong Chungnam National University Hospital: There was a baby in critical condition from early Sunday into Monday, so I started my shift at 2:00 AM, and I will be working until 6:00 PM on Wednesday.]

That amounts to 64 consecutive hours of work.

Professor Lee must be solely responsible for the intensive care unit again tonight.

The 20 beds are already full, mostly with premature babies born before 37 weeks.

The state of being on call, waiting 24 hours a day, is maintained 365 days a year.

The presence of a neonatologist is absolutely vital for saving a baby's life, such as in procedures like inserting an arterial line for a baby with low blood pressure.

[Lee Byeong-guk/Professor of Neonatal Intensive Care, Sejong Chungnam National University Hospital: The radial artery (in the baby's wrist) is extremely small. I have no choice but to feel the pulse and locate it directly. It is not something that is visible to the eye.]

Past midnight, he frequently checks the heart of a baby nicknamed "Teunteuni," who weighs less than 600g.

[Lee Byeong-guk/Professor of Neonatal Intensive Care, Sejong Chungnam National University Hospital: Because this baby is in a very difficult situation, my heart truly hopes that they will survive.]

He misses his dinner time and makes do with a convenience store sandwich and milk in a research office right next to the intensive care unit.

He tries to catch a nap after 1:00 AM, but wakes up an hour later to check on the babies again.

There are only 65 neonatal intensive care units nationwide, and only 199 neonatologists.

Even of these, 65% are concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area.

With situations like the recent case at Chonbuk National University Hospital, where the loss of just one person puts the operation of the intensive care unit at risk, continuous work shifts of 24 hours or more have become a daily routine for neonatologists.

[Lee Byeong-guk/Professor of Neonatal Intensive Care, Sejong Chungnam National University Hospital: I am struggling a lot because of a herniated disc in my neck, but I am holding on. If something were to happen to me tomorrow, this place would become empty.]

The treatment is demanding, the compensation is low, and there is a risk of legal liability if something goes wrong with a baby despite the grueling work. As a result, there have been no applicants for the residency program to succeed Professor Lee for seven years.

Professor Lee still remembers what the last resident who worked with him said.

[Lee Byeong-guk/Professor of Neonatal Intensive Care, Sejong Chungnam National University Hospital: (The resident said) 'I think this is a truly wonderful job. But I cannot do it, and I cannot let my family do it'....]

After the sun rose, Professor Lee finished his rounds and hurried off to give a lecture at the medical school.

He still has 10 more hours to go before he can finish his shift.

Reported by Lee Byeong-ju | Video by Kim Jong-tae