A young woman from Ratchaburi province accused an emergency hotline operator of mocking her as she sought help for her ailing father on Sunday, July 19th.
Pronrawin Ongpisut, the woman who called the hospital, stated that a hotline operator of Ratchaburi Hospital mocked her as she was calling for emergency medical services, as her father had experienced chest pains and breathing difficulties.
She had called the 1669 hospital hotline three times, with the ambulance arriving seven minutes later.
Ms. Ongpisut, according to a social media post, stated that she had first called the hospital at 7:13 am.
After four minutes, she made her second call. However, the call wasn’t received by a telephone operator.
A minute later, she again called, this time being picked-up, with the operator allegedly mocking her. She said:
“On my third call, a man who picked up the phone said ‘I can’t hear you’ before making the ‘beep beep’ sound and hanging up.”
Ms. Ongpisut added:
“I’m not angry about the ambulance arriving late, but the personnel who picked up the phone and teased me while the patient was dying. Is it appropriate?”
Her father died at the hospital, with coronary artery disease pointed as his cause of death.
The hospital, on Tuesday, held a press conference to clear the air regarding the incident.
Ratchaburi Hospital Director, Dr. Pichian Wuthisathirapinyo, clarified that the medical institution’s telephone operator had no intention to mock Ms. Ongpisut.
The director stated:
“The patient’s relative might not have heard some words and thus misunderstood. I understand that the relative was worried at that moment out of concern for her father.”
According to him:
“The operator was very sorry about the misunderstanding.”
The hospital’s management and the phone operator attended Mr. Ongpisut’s funeral in Ratchaburi province.
Source: Khaosod & Bangkok Post
