Vietnamese hospital guards fired for preventing dying patient from exiting
A security services company has fired three security guards who were filmed preventing a car transporting a dying toddler from exiting a hospital in Hanoi despite the mother’s cries, local media reported.
The case that happened at Vietnam National Hospital of Pediatrics has recently sparked public outrage after some video clips featuring the security guards’ ruthless acts were posted on the internet.
Le Thanh Hai, director of the hospital, on July 9 morning officially apologized to the toddler’s family.
On July 2, the family of the nine-month-old girl hired a car to bring her back home in Nghe An Province after a long time of treatment at the hospital.
The baby was diagnosed with a conginental heart disease and her condition did not improve.
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| A still from a video clip shows the three security guards stopping the car at the gate of Vietnam National Hospital of Pediatrics in Hanoi on July 2, 2016 |
As the family had ran out of money and doctors predicted the toddler could not be cured and would die soon, the family decided to bring her home.
Hoang Thi Soa, the mother of the patient, said she received a phone call before leaving the hospital. A man asked her if she would like to hire a car accompanied by a nurse and breathing support devices for the baby.
Soa refused as she could not afford the price of VND7 million the man offered.
She then hired another car based in Nghe An with the price of VND2 million.
When the car transported her family to leave the hospital, three security guards stopped it at the gate, saying they must check some papers. They tried to prevent the car from exiting and had a quarrel with the car driver despite the mother’s cries.
The guards only let the car go after the police arrived at the scene and worked with them. However, the child patient had died inside the car.
Some nearby people filmed the scenes with mobile phones.
After the clips went viral on the internet, the hospital said it would investigate and suspended the security guards.
AZ Company, which supplies security guards for the hospital, then fired all the three employees.
There were opinions that the hospital did not manage its staff well, and some people working in the hospital connived with car companies outside to offer patients’ families overcharging transport services that were not licensed by the hospital.
The family of the toddler believed the guards stopped them as they refused to hire the car with overcharging price.