[Anchor]

Seven out of nine specialist doctors at Ajou University Hospital's Pediatric Emergency Center have expressed their intention to resign. This comes in the wake of a recent police seizure and search at the emergency center. If this leads to actual resignations, disruptions to the regional emergency medical system appear inevitable.

Reporter Jeong Seong-jin has the details.

[Reporter]

This is the Pediatric Specialized Emergency Medical Center at Ajou University Hospital.

Nine specialists work in 24/7 rotating shifts, 365 days a year, to care for pediatric emergency patients.

However, seven of the specialists here, including the head of the center, expressed their intention to resign the night before yesterday.

The catalyst was the death of a four-month-old infant in July.

The baby, who showed symptoms of cyanosis, died while receiving emergency treatment from medical staff. Following a complaint filed by the bereaved family, the police conducted a search and seizure at the center on September 30.

The medical staff protested against the disruption of medical practices and being treated like criminals, demanding an apology. However, it is reported that they ultimately expressed their intent to resign after the police investigation chief, attending a parliamentary audit the day before yesterday, maintained the stance that the investigation was unavoidable.

[Ham Young-wook / Head of the Metropolitan Investigation Unit, Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency (October 27, National Assembly Audit): I sincerely regret the pain the medical staff must have experienced and the inconvenience caused to patients.]

[Han Ji-a / People Power Party Lawmaker (October 27, National Assembly Audit): They say their hands shake so much that they cannot provide treatment within the jurisdiction of that police agency.]

While the doctors' resignation letters have not yet been formally submitted or accepted, the news of the mass expressions of resignation has stirred the regional medical community.

There are only 14 pediatric emergency centers nationwide.

Severe pediatric patients from Gangwon and Chungbuk, where there are none, also turn to Ajou University Hospital. If this center fails to function properly, many children may struggle to receive timely treatment.

[Park Su-hyeon / Public Relations Director, Korean Society of Pediatric Emergency Medicine: The collapse of a base center that has been barely holding on could be a signal of the collapse of the entire pediatric emergency medical network nationwide. (The medical staff feel) there is no longer any reason to hold on here....]

As the rift deepens without proper investigation standards established for essential medical fields, patient anxiety is also mounting.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Video by: Bae Moon-san | Video editing by: Lee So-young | Design by: Lim Chan-hyeok)