999 center apologizes for delay in care

A television journalist from Liaoning province has received an apology and an offer of compensation from an emergency medical center in Beijing that he says delayed treatment when he was critically ill.

The journalist, Zhang Yang, said on his Sina Weibo account that doctors from the 999 Emergency Rescue Center, administered by Beijing Red Cross Society, gave him excessive checkups while he was in pain.

They initially refused to send him to a good hospital despite being unable to provide him proper treatment.

Emergency medical centers in Beijing will soon be supervised by the Beijing Municipal Health and Family Commission.

Additionally, more detailed regulations will be issued to achieve a higher standard of care, according to a draft proposal to Beijing's top legislature last week.

Zhang suffered acute intestinal obstruction, which can result in death, on a flight from Shenyang to Beijing on Nov 9. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital near Beijing Capital International Airport on landing.

The hospital said his condition was serious and advised him to go to Beijing Chaoyang Hospital or Peking Union Medical College Hospital for better treatment.

The center refused, Zhang said. He said on his Weibo account on Saturday that a staff member from the center contacted him on Friday night by mobile phone and apologized to him and that the center would like to offer him compensation.

Feng Xueyan, a publicity official at the center, said on Sunday that it is investigating the case but would make no further comment.

The Beijing Red Cross Society could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

Zhang also blamed China Southern Airlines, whose flight he took on Nov 9, and Beijing Capital International Airport, for delaying his care.

He said that the door of the plane he took did not open until about 50 minutes after landing. While offering an apology, the airline said on its Weibo account that the braking system of the plane that Zhang took malfunctioned, so the plane could not taxi to a bay.

As a result, the plane had to be pulled by trailer to a parking space before the door could be opened.

Zhang said he had checkups in the 999 Emergency Rescue Center lasting three hours while in great pain, but doctors could not find the cause and suspected him of having used drugs.

Finally, he managed to call two of his friends in Beijing, including a doctor, before he fainted.

The center transferred him to Peking University People's Hospital at the demand of the doctor. He then had a successful operation that removed part of his intestine, he said.