The father of a 2-year-old boy who died from COVID-19, surnamed Lin (?), is demanding a symbolic compensation of NT$1 (US$0.033) from the New Taipei City Government for a delayed ambulance response that he believes was responsible for his son’s death.
In a Facebook post published on Saturday, Lin, father of En En (??), who died on April 19, said that the reason why he filed a case for state compensation was to push the New Taipei City Government to “concede the errors” involved in handling the family’s request for an ambulance for En En.
Lin’s claim for compensation was filed with the New Taipei City Government, the city’s Fire Department which is in charge of the city’s COVID-19 response center, and the city’s Department of Health involved in responding to ambulance requests, on Aug. 16.
Lin said his family had hoped that the authorities would uncover the truth behind En En’s death and offer them a sincere apology.
In accordance with the State Compensation Law, the authorities should respond to a claim within 30 days from the date of receiving the application for the claim if they agree to pay the compensation or if they want to negotiate with Lin about the issue.
If negotiations cannot be concluded within 60 days from the date of negotiation, the claimant may bring forward a lawsuit to demand compensation, according to the law.
Wu Tsung-hsien (???), director of the city government’s Legal Affairs Department, said that his office would schedule a meeting to review the case as soon as possible.
En En developed severe COVID-19 symptoms and fell into a coma at home in New Taipei on April 14. He was only admitted to the city’s Shuangho Hospital after his mother waited for 81 minutes for an ambulance, according to Lin.
Since May 27, Lin has appealed to the New Taipei City Government to provide him with phone records of all the calls made by related agencies regarding the family’s request for an ambulance on April 14, but he has been denied access to some of the records.
Lin has vowed to find out what caused the delay with the ambulance response in order to prevent a similar tragedy from happening in the future. “Money is not the point because there is no amount of money that can bring back En En,” he said on July 5.
According to an investigation into the case which was conducted by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) and released to media on July 5, an ambulance was not dispatched for En En until the authorities were able to find a hospital bed for the boy.
In a case like this that involves a life-threatening situation, an ambulance should be dispatched immediately and should not be contingent on hospital bed availability, according to CECC officials.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel