A Pregnant Foreigner Collapsed at Incheon Airport, Gave Birth in Ambulance After Wandering Between Hospitals

Gave Birth in Ambulance After Failing to Find Emergency Room
Safely Delivered Baby Boy Inside Ambulance

A foreign pregnant woman collapsed due to abdominal pain at Incheon International Airport and searched for an obstetrics and gynecology hospital for over two hours, eventually giving birth inside a 119 ambulance. According to Yonhap News on the 17th, the Incheon Fire Department received a report around 12:20 PM the previous day that Ms. A (31), a Vietnamese national, had collapsed on the 3rd floor of Terminal 1 at Incheon International Airport. The dispatched paramedics assumed Ms. A was pregnant due to her complaints of abdominal pain, but communication was difficult, making it hard to immediately assess her exact condition.

A foreign pregnant woman collapsed due to abdominal pain at Incheon International Airport and, after searching for an obstetrics department at a hospital for over two hours, eventually gave birth inside a 119 ambulance. According to Yonhap News on the 17th, the Incheon Fire Headquarters received a report around 12:20 PM the previous day that Ms. A (31), a Vietnamese national, had collapsed on the 3rd floor of Terminal 1 at Incheon International Airport. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

The paramedics assumed Ms. A, who was complaining of abdominal pain, was pregnant. Despite the difficulty in precise communication, the paramedics ultimately decided to transport Ms. A to another hospital. They first attempted to transfer her to Inha University Hospital, about 30 km away by car, but received a response that obstetrics admissions were difficult. Other hospitals in the Incheon area also responded with messages such as 'treatment is difficult,' 'initial patients cannot be delivered,' and 'there is a shortage of medical staff.'

The paramedics then asked the 119 Regional Ambulance Situation Management Center to find a hospital that could accept the patient and waited in the parking lot of Inha University Hospital. However, Ms. A’s labor pains intensified inside the ambulance, and the paramedics ultimately proceeded with the delivery inside the ambulance. Ms. A safely gave birth to a baby boy at 2:33 PM, 2 hours and 13 minutes after the initial report. Ms. A and her baby are currently receiving treatment at Inha University Hospital.

Meanwhile, as of August last year, the total number of emergency room re-transfers was 3,597 cases. The main reason for re-transfer was 'lack of specialists,' accounting for 1,433 cases or 39.8%. In other words, 4 out of 10 patients could not be admitted to the emergency room because there was no doctor available to treat them. There were also 121 cases of patients being re-transferred twice, 17 cases three times, and 23 cases up to four times.