A firefighter with arthritis carrying a patient in the mountains … "Government Illness"

Mr. Kim (42), an 18-year-old firefighter, is responsible for rescuing patients in the field. Among them, mountaineers were transported to the hospital by a hiker on a stretcher. He has become increasingly popular since being sent to the Jeonnam Fire Department four years ago.

Kim, who was suffering from knee pain, was more and more excited about going out into the mountains. He often appealed to his colleagues saying, "I have a knee ache."

In April of last year, Kim was diagnosed with arthritis while he could not stand knee pain anymore. The doctor commented: "It is badumed that the worker is a firefighter."

"I suffer from arthritis because of the constant load I carry on my knees when I carry patients from the mountain to the stretcher for several years," said Kim. "I asked to be paid even for injuries caused by the public service."

However, the public service pension company dismissed Kim: "The knee operated 13 years ago has naturally worsened and arthritis has progressed". Kim brought legal action against the Public Service Employee Retirement Corporation, which lasted for nearly a year.

On March 24, Judge Hwaseok Chan of the Seoul Administrative Court said, "The Public Sector Pension Society must accept Kim's request." "Even if the main cause of the disease is not directly related to the official business, the judge should have a causal link if the occupational overwork is caused by an overlap of the disease," said the judge. "This means that the existing disease is deteriorating rapidly, including the case that it is included."

The judge said: "Kim performed emergency interventions with seven horses in total for three years, all of whom had to kneel and he was admitted that he was suffering every time." In addition, it was considered that Kim was in charge of heavier tasks when he transferred his jurisdiction to the Chonnam area.

Other medical experts also said that "rescue activities are more likely to cause arthritis or worsen the natural rhythm than the average activity," he said. declared. In particular, Kim had felt pain only when he had descended from the mountain before, but when he found that his knee was painful, even since the climb, since the year last, I found that arthritis had quickly deteriorated in recent years.

He also noted that it usually takes 15 to 30 years for osteoarthritis of the knee to spread to arthritis. He said: "Kim started to feel knee pain because it was about 13 years after her operation so it's earlier than average." In the end, the arthritis of Kim, C is reasonable to see. "
Dr. Raji [email protected]