The mother of the late Michael White, the 14-year-old American boy who died in a sauna near Daegu, is suing both the provincial and central governments, claiming poor paramedic management and a legal system that discourages people from helping others in emergency situations.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! The comments at the linked page are pretty distasteful. I never visit the Korean Times website, but man those people posting comments there are some hateful individuals.
Ouch. I feel bad for the mom, but this isn’t going to do her any good. The new aggravation of this legal ordeal is not going to bring any peace… likely the opposite.
I *really* wish her luck… but I don’t see any satisfaction for her in this. Maybe Esq. Carr can contribute some wisdom?
#2,
I disagree. Raising public awareness would potentially accomplish much more than that. It could save lives.
#1, I just wish they would shut that comments section down since they obviously don’t know how to properly moderate what’s supposed to be a national newspaper. What an embarrassment.
vast majority never sue to raise public awareness.
“Govt” = $
for the lawyer.
otherwise, the lawyer can’t eat, but more importantly, the lawyer can’t have his Rolex.
not too familiar with the case, but US law is as discouraging in offering medical help as well.
US medical students and doctors are explicitly told that US law does NOT require we stop and help someone. If we do choose to do so, there is some reasonable protection (Good Sam), but they can still sue and say I never walked again because he touched me.
Recently, California Supreme Court decided the co-worker could most definitely sue the ass off of another co-worker who tried to help her from a car wreck. California IS a US state, by the way.
Her 2nd premise here is wrong. Legal structure that discourages help? I don’t she would have even wanted someone who doesn’t know shit to help anyway, other than dialing 119.
this is wrong to say, but if your kid dies, and big money is offered, that somehow is acceptable, although your kid will never come back again.
sounds like the case of a crusading lawyer who also smelled $.
in the US, doctors do NOT ride in ambulances.
she should have said there was no life guard on duty. That’s the only reasonable lawsuit. The rest is cooked up by an evil lawyer for $ and media exposure.
#3 – Raising public awareness isn’t going to happen. That’s a wonderful dream, but just a dream.
Awareness wasn’t the problem, Korean culture was.
I agree with SomeguyinKorea, the lawsuit could have some positive side effects. The mother has already gotten the government to revise the law, I’ve seen the “Good Samaritan Law” being explained on the MBC docu pro ‘Doctors.’ Also the Korean emergency response system is inadequate. There’s no standard, some ambulances are state of the art while others are just transportation – a basic means to get a patient to ER. I’m hoping the lawsuit will effect the response system also.
There was no certified CPR-trained medic on the ambulance that responded and there is no excuse in having unqualified people show up at an emergency. If a lawsuit can help improve emergency response in Korea (it is horrific) or safety awareness at jingilbangs and saunas, then sue away because private owners and government have not done enough, IMHO.
#8,
If you only knew the number of times I had no choice but pull over on the side of the road to provide first aid to people injured in road accidents. People who were already on the scene did nothing but gawk at the victims…or try to force the injured into a taxi despite his or her cries of pain.
Of course not. There is no need to have doctors ride along in ambulances since the drivers and their partners are all trained paramedics.
Thank you all for your comments (even the not so nice ones)… keeping the case in discussion is one way of raising awareness of the issues involved.
There is now a forum page on the MightieMike website. It’s an attempt to consolidate the various topics and discussion threads into one location (or at least mostly at one place)
It was just uploaded last night, so it may take a bit for things to get rolling with folks making comments… or maybe not.
Thank you again and I sincerely hope to turn this tragic situation into one of positive growth.
http://www.mightiemike.com
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