Lawsuit over subway death

The mother of a 22-year-old, who died at Gulou Subway Station in 2010, appeared at Dongcheng court Tuesday, accusing the two defendants, the Beijing Emergency Medical Center (BEMC) and Dongcheng district first aid station for being responsible for her son's death.

Meng Zhaohong, mother of the deceased university student Ma Yue, is asking the two organizations for compensatory damages of 1 million yuan ($157,900) for her mental suffering, and an apology in person.　

Ma died after being electrocuted when he fell onto the subway tracks on August 23, 2010.

Meng told the Global Times Tuesday that she blames the BEMC doctor for making no efforts to revive her son, and contends that if they had tried to revive him immediately, the outcome could have been different.

An anonymous person called emergency services, and the ambulance, dispatched from the district first aid center, arrived around five minutes later. It is not known how long after Ma fell the call was made.

Yang Yuxing, the female doctor who responded to the call, told the court that when she arrived at the scene, Ma was on the tracks, not moving or breathing.

"My first thought was that Ma had a cardiac arrest," she said.

"We couldn't treat him without knowing his actual physical condition, as that's dangerous to the patient," said Yang.

They lifted Ma from the tracks to a corridor near the platform's public toilet, where an EKG test showed his heart was not beating, she said.

But Meng claimed the doctor should still have tried to revive Ma.

"I'll sue the Beijing Subway Company next," she said.

Meng told the Global Times in March 2011 that she believed an electric current on the platform caused Ma to fall on the tracks.

The station has never provided surveillance footage of the incident, but Chen Zhiwen, deputy director of Beijing Subway's legal department, claimed that Ma had played video games for eight hours prior to his death, and may have been dizzy.

Yu Ying, a doctor from Peking Union Medical College Hospital, said that paramedics must ensure the area is safe before treating a patient.　

"It depends on the time, but theoretically, brain function ceases around five minutes after the heart stops beating," Yu said Tuesday.