Renting a 115 car to "rescue" university admissions records: Not a game!

It is necessary to control the use of ambulances, because human life is sometimes just a matter of seconds, if the ambulance arrives just a little bit in time, a life can be saved.

Regarding the improper use of ambulances, Lawyer Huynh Kim Ngan, Head of Chan Thien My Law Office (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association) has a more detailed explanation from a legal perspective. Below is the conversation between Lawyer Ngan and Infonet reporter:

Image of the driver and the car rented for "emergency file repair", reported by Ha Tinh Newspaper.

Dear lawyer, what do you think when reading the story about a candidate who hired an ambulance to "rescue" his university admissions application?

This story reminds me of some “Game-shows” in which the contestants have some “help rights”. In this admission “game”, the contestant’s family used a very creative “help right”: hiring a 115 ambulance to withdraw and submit the university application in time.

However, university admission is not a “game show” because it not only relates to an individual’s future but also affects the education of the country. Using an ambulance to “rescue” university admissions is an illegal use of “assistance rights”, unintentionally affecting the community if an emergency request occurs while the ambulance is away.

This story "shocked" society about a special admission season, but from a legal perspective, is this allowed?

Although we sympathize with the candidate's "special" situation, using the ambulance mentioned above is not allowed.

The violation is caused by the 115 ambulance rental party, because when it is discovered that the user is not a patient, the vehicle cannot be used for other purposes, regardless of whether it is a vehicle owned by the 115 Center or a vehicle rented from an outside organization or individual as a 115 ambulance, because the vehicle is always equipped with medical equipment and is always ready to serve emergency services according to the health sector's plan.

First of all, it must be determined that university admission is not an “emergency situation”. An individual’s travel under normal conditions is entirely up to that individual in terms of time, space and appropriate means. In traffic, situations considered urgent have been regulated in terms of traffic priority in the Road Traffic Law, which includes the provision “ambulances performing emergency duties”.

On the other hand, Decision No. 01/2008/QD-BYT of the Ministry of Health dated January 21, 2008 on promulgating regulations on emergency, resuscitation and anti-poisoning has provisions on "emergency 115".

Accordingly, 115 emergency is an emergency outside the hospital. The ambulance must have a doctor (medical doctor), nurse and driver of the emergency vehicle (115 ambulance). The vehicle must be equipped with medical equipment to serve the emergency of patients.

In my opinion, using ambulances for admission is not only illegal but also affects social ethics because if there are emergency patients but there is a lack of ambulances, it will affect the health and lives of the patients.

According to the lawyer, from this story, what should be noted in using emergency vehicles for other purposes (if any)?

Except in cases of "urgent situations" that require use to serve the community such as evacuating people from dangerous areas while lacking means, avoiding storms, natural disasters... otherwise, it must be used for its intended purpose.

Thank you attorney!

According to Infonet