119구급대원의 응급의료과실에 따른 법적책임

Abstract

Korea's emergency medical system can be divided into pre-hospital and hospital stages. The pre-hospital emergency medical system is responsible for removing or mitigating life-threatening emergency symptoms with limited emergency medical equipment and manpower for emergency patients in non-hospital sites to prevent secondary damage and quickly transfer them to the hospital-level emergency medical system. In Korea, 119 paramedics operated by firefighters were in charge of first aid and transportation from the site where emergency patients occurred based on the Emergency Medical Act and the 119 Rescue and Emergency Act, and 119 paramedics were simply transferred to fire and accident sites. However, due to the nature of emergency patients caused by various accidents and disasters, it is changing to provide advanced emergency medical services that provide professional first aid in the field not to miss golden time due to the medical need for life loss or serious mental and physical harm. However, first aid workers, who account for the majority of 119 paramedics, were changed from the comprehensive scope of work to the limited scope of work in 1999 when the Emergency Medical Service Act was enacted in 1994 to transfer first aid patients to hospitals. In addition, the authority of emergency medical instructors to provide emergency medical guidance to patients in emergency situations is not clear, so the reality is that they cannot keep up with the current emergency medical reality. Internally, 119 paramedics are qualified as emergency medical personnel and nurses, so nurses are also engaged in field activities by applying the scope of work of first-class emergency medical personnel without securing clear grounds for emergency medical practices at the site. In order to save emergency patients who need urgency due to legal restrictions and qualifications, unlicensed emergency medical practices outside the scope of work during the first aid process may lead to a ridiculous situation in which they become offenders. The hospital-level emergency medical system is systematically divided into doctors rather than the hospital-level emergency medical system, but in the hospital-level emergency medical system, 119 paramedics have dualized emergency medical qualifications and common scope of work, emergency medical guidance and paramedics. Only in 2019, discussions are underway on emergency medical workers working in the emergency medical system before hospitals, such as public hearings related to the scope of emergency medical personnel's work, but the expansion of the scope of work for emergency medical personnel is not progressing due to differences between jobs. Therefore, this study aims to examine the types of legal responsibilities, duty of care, and dispute cases of 119 paramedics who play a key role in the emergency medical system at all levels of hospitals, and to suggest alternatives to 119 paramedics.