A ten-year-old girl in Busan was left waiting more than one hour for emergency treatment after a dozen hospitals declined to accept her, raising renewed alarm over repeated emergency room rejections.

According to fire authorities on Tuesday, the child lost consciousness while receiving an intravenous drip for cold symptoms at a pediatric clinic in Busan’s Saha district at around 10 a.m.

Paramedics contacted 12 hospitals to secure emergency care, but most responded that they were unable to take the patient.

A secondary hospital eventually agreed to accept her, but the girl suffered cardiac arrest during transport and was resuscitated after arrival, before being transferred to a tertiary hospital for further treatment.

It took about one hour and 20 minutes from the initial hospital search to her arrival at the tertiary facility.

The incident follows a recent case in which a high school student died after being turned away by multiple emergency rooms in Busan, prompting the health ministry and President Lee Jae Myung to order urgent measures to prevent further loss of life.