The paramedics called 25 hospitals but all said the same thing: We’re too busy and too crowded to take another patient. As a result, a 75-year-old Japanese man died after spending two hours in the back of an ambulance, desperately trying to find a place that would treat him. The man — who’d called the paramedics after having breathing problems — was eventually taken to a hospital 20 minutes from his hometown of Kuki, north of Tokyo, but it was too late. He died shortly after arriving there. All told, he’d been turned down 36 times, as some facilities were contacted more than once. One first responder told the press that they’d never dealt with a patient being rejected so many times. [Source]
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