“Patient Falls to Death at Ansan Mental Hospital Due to Inadequate Safety Measures”

◀ Anchor ▶

Recently, at a mental hospital in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, a patient in his 40s died after jumping out of a 4th floor window.

There was also a fall at this hospital two years ago.

After that, only the hospital name and director changed.

Reporter Yoon Sang-moon covered why this happens repeatedly.

◀ Report ▶

A mental hospital in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do.

A woman is lying on the sidewalk in front of the building.

Hospital officials are confused, putting the woman in a wheelchair and then laying her down again.

He was soon put on a stretcher and taken to the hospital, but eventually died.

The woman who died was a patient who had been hospitalized just a month ago.

He jumped through a window on the 4th floor of the closed ward where he was staying.

The hospital windows were fitted with fasteners that only open about 20 cm wide, but to no avail.

As a result of MBC coverage, this was not the first time that a patient fell and died from this hospital building.

Two years ago, a patient on the 5th floor of a closed ward opened a window and jumped to his death.

After that, the same incident was repeated because the ‘fall prevention facility’ was not sufficiently prepared.

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The local public health center is in a position that it is difficult to make a problem with the hospital.

This is because in order to be able to escape in the event of a fire, it is necessary to comply with the Fire Protection Act regulations that allow windows to be fully opened.

Experts point out that, like apartment roof doors, windows can be closed normally and only opened in an emergency.

Nevertheless, it is easy to neglect safety measures as there is no standard or installation duty for ‘fall prevention’ facilities.

Ten years ago, in a closed ward of a psychiatric hospital in Seoul, there was a case in which a patient kicked a window and jumped to death, and the Supreme Court confirmed the hospital’s guilt.

It is said that patients did not fulfill their duty of care even though there is a high possibility of extreme choice or escape through the window.

It seems urgent for the authorities to prepare standards such as mandatory safety equipment for special facilities such as mental hospitals.

This is Yoon Sang-moon from MBC News.

※ If you have troubles such as depression that are difficult to talk about, or if you have family or acquaintances who are experiencing these difficulties, call the suicide prevention hotline ☎1393, mental health hotline ☎1577-0199, life phone ☎1588-9191, youth phone ☎1388, youth You can receive expert counseling 24 hours a day through the mobile counseling application ‘A Dog That Will Listen’, ‘1388’ on Kakao Talk, and the ‘Dog that Listens to Everything’ channel.