Within Thirty Minutes

One day in December last year, the Emergency Department of Kim Man Yu Hospital received a call from a family in Neighbourhood Unit No. 12, Munsu-dong No. 2, Taedonggang District, Pyongyang, that an old man slipped into a coma after complaining of severe chest pain.

No sooner had Doctor Kim Jang Sok received the call than he got onto an ambulance.

When he arrived at the spot, he found a 70-year-old man named Pak Jong Ryong in a critical condition with supraventricular arrhythmia and angina.

An intensive treatment was given on the spot. According to the instructions of Kim who have extensive clinical experience, appropriate medications were administered to the patient, and proper treatment methods were applied in keeping with changing condition.

Twenty minutes after the start of treatment, the patient recovered consciousness and all vital signs returned to normal.

“I did not expect that the ambulance would arrive in ten minutes after we asked for a sick call. Words failed to express my pleasure when my husband regained consciousness. I have witnessed such facts on TV and newspapers, but when I experienced a similar thing myself, I keenly realized the benefits of the socialist public health policy and the benevolent social system,” said Pak Jong Ryong’s wife.

The hospital receives letters of thanks from a large number of people including Pak Jong Ryong who have been treated by Kim Jang Sok.