Daegu civil servant dies during night shift; EMS response under review

A civil servant in Daegu, South Korea, died while working the night shift and was found this morning on the fourth floor of the Suseong District Office’s annex building. The man, in his 30s, was reported to have called 119, Korea’s emergency medical number, about seven hours earlier, but responders could not locate him and ultimately did not rescue him.

Last night around 11:38 p.m., fire and police vehicles converged on the vicinity after a suspected medical emergency was reported to 119. The caller’s voice contained vomiting sounds, and the line eventually disconnected. Based on GPS data, responders searched the area around the district office but could not locate the caller and returned to their posts.

This morning, a municipal sanitation worker cleaning the annex building discovered the body on the fourth floor. The deceased was a second-year civil servant in the ninth-grade track and had a physical disability classified as grade 6. Investigators noted that the desk contained remnants of a hamburger and signs of vomiting blood.

Fire officials said the annex door was locked and they believed no one was inside, prompting an initial return from the search. They added that staff on duty in the main building did not receive requests to open the annex or confirm whether anyone was present there. Officials emphasized that the first 119 report did not verify the caller’s identity, and that the absence of this step may have affected the response.

Authorities say they will review whether the night-time search procedures were properly followed and will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death. The fire department is examining emergency-response protocols, while the police will determine the medical cause of death through the autopsy.

The case has raised questions about safety for late-night government workers and the effectiveness of emergency-response coverage across multiple buildings in a municipal campus. For the United States, the incident underscores broader issues in public safety: how local governments handle after-hours access to public facilities, ensure rapid EMS response when information is limited, and protect workers who clock in overnight in high-stress public roles. It also highlights the importance of clear protocols for cross-building emergencies and verification steps in initial emergency calls.