Elevator Service Suspended from the 5th at Incheon Apartment
Residents: "It's Not Just a Day or Two, How Can We Live Like This?"
Concerns Over Missing Golden Time for Emergency Patients
Residents are experiencing inconvenience as the operation of elevators in a 15-story apartment complex in Incheon has been completely suspended. In particular, some elderly residents are reportedly unable to even go outside because climbing the stairs is too difficult for them.
On the 12th, Yonhap News Agency and Jung-gu, Incheon City, announced that all 24 elevators in eight apartment buildings in Hang-dong 7-ga, Jung-gu, have been out of service since the 5th. This apartment complex, completed in 1990, became unusable after failing a detailed safety inspection by the Korea Elevator Safety Agency.
During the 2021 detailed safety inspection, the Safety Agency allowed elevator use on the condition that eight safety devices, including finger entrapment prevention devices, be installed. However, it was reported that the apartment residents' representative committee did not fulfill these conditions. The Safety Agency also warned during the inspection in January to "install safety parts within four months," but when this was not carried out, they ultimately issued a notice of operation failure.
Recently, the residents' representative committee gathered funds belatedly and signed a contract with an elevator company for elevator parts construction. However, due to delays in parts supply, construction has not yet started. With the complete suspension of elevator operation, residents of the 608 households in this apartment complex are experiencing the inconvenience of carrying daily necessities up the stairs, and some elderly residents are reportedly unable to go outside. Additionally, delivery services for parcels and food orders have also been interrupted.
Mr. Kim, in his 80s, who lives on the 12th floor of the apartment, is forced to walk with a cane, repeatedly sitting down to rest and then standing up again due to a hospital appointment. In an interview with SBS, Mr. Kim expressed, "I am out of breath and feel like I am dying." Other residents also reacted, saying, "It's not just for a day or two; how can we live like this? My mouth is dry, and I feel like dying," and "Food is originally heavy, but we have to carry it all the way up to the 15th floor purely by human strength."
In particular, since paramedics must climb stairs to reach emergency patients on higher floors, residents are reportedly hoping that no critical patients will occur. The golden time to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for patients experiencing respiratory distress is about four minutes. The non-operation of elevators raises concerns about missing this golden time.
Jung-gu, Incheon City, expects that the elevator parts construction will take more than a month, so residents' inconvenience is expected to continue for the time being. Nationwide, 407 elevators, including those in this apartment complex, have received operation failure judgments as of April this year. A representative from the Korea Elevator Safety Agency said, "We are currently contacting elevator parts manufacturers and installation companies to expedite parts construction as much as possible," and added, "We plan to support the prompt resumption of elevator operation."
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