A month has passed since the water park explosion in Taiwan. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, there have been nine casualties and 329 people remain hospitalized, including 195 patients in intensive care and 147 people still critically ill.

But while more and more patients are discharged from the hospital, the medical staff is still struggling every day to treat patients. Even after a month, they still overwork daily, causing severe fatigue.

On July 27, the Taiwan Medical Alliance for Labor Justice and Patient Safety along with DPP Legislator Xu Zhi-jie, held a press conference criticizing the unchanging situation of medical staff. There haven’t been any improvements made regarding the conditions of medical personnel.

Apple Daily reports, Xu points out he sent a letter to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on July 1 demanding more attention to the overworked medical staff. He also requested drafting a compensatory program as soon as possible in order for personnel to get enough rest. The ministry only replied they have an EOC system and didn’t respond directly to the legislator’s requests.

Xu says the ICUs in Taipei are packed with burn victims. What would happen if another burning incident occurs? Hospitals would be bouncing patients back and forth again.

Storm Media reports, Liu Yu-jing, spokesperson from the Department of Medical Affairs at the ministry, says that since the dust explosion occurred in New Taipei City, it was made top priority to send the injured to hospitals in the region.

Regarding the lack of medical resources, the ministry has transferred patients living in the central south region and the injured have already been distributed to 13 counties.

The ministry says in the future it will continue to call upon patients in stable conditions to transfer to medical facilities closer to home.

Translated by Sarah Grasdijk
Edited by Olivia Yang

Sources:
Apple Daily
Storm Media