Hungary’s National Ambulance Service (OMSZ) has publicly apologised after sharing a Facebook post celebrating the resuscitation of a man who had subsequently died. His wife revealed that her husband’s funeral was taking place on the very day the organisation published the story.

Hungary’s National Ambulance Service updated its earlier Facebook post with an apology on Wednesday, 23 September, following criticism over its account of a man’s emergency treatment.

The organisation had published the story on Monday, highlighting the efforts of paramedics who repeatedly resuscitated a patient in his forties. However, the man’s wife commented on the post, explaining that her husband had died and that he was being buried that day.

The ambulance service initially edited the post for reasons of respect for the deceased and expressed its condolences to the family. On Wednesday, it added a further update containing a public apology.

In the statement, the organisation wrote:

“We regret that the post in this form may have caused additional pain to the family, and we therefore apologise. In light of the lessons learned from this incident, we will review our practices for presenting individual patient cases on social media.”

Wife discovers ambulance service’s Facebook post on husband’s funeral day

The man’s wife responded to the ambulance service’s original Facebook post, revealing that her husband had died on 6 September. She explained that the family was holding his funeral on the same day the organisation published its account of the emergency.

The original post praised the medical team’s efforts and expressed hope that the patient would recover, without mentioning his subsequent death.

Following the woman’s comment, OMSZ amended the post and offered its condolences. However, the initial revision did not include an apology, which was only added in the 23 September update.

How paramedics fought to save the man’s life

According to the ambulance service’s account, the emergency began at a family home in Pest County, where a woman noticed unusual gasping sounds coming from the bedroom.

Her husband, who was around 40 years old, had been resting, but she was unable to wake him. She immediately called emergency services.

An emergency dispatcher guided her through checking his breathing and starting resuscitation while an ambulance and an emergency response vehicle were sent to the scene. When paramedics arrived, they took over treatment, with an advanced life-support ambulance later joining the operation.

The man was transported to hospital while resuscitation efforts continued. During the journey, his circulation returned several times before collapsing again, requiring paramedics to perform chest compressions and use a defibrillator.

Despite the repeated cardiac arrests, the emergency crews managed to hand the patient over to hospital staff with his circulation restored. Although the paramedics had successfully restored his circulation during the emergency, this did not mean that he had recovered or survived in the longer term.

Following the incident, the National Ambulance Service has apologised to the family and announced that it will review its approach to sharing individual patient stories on social media.

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