Emergency medicine is a clinical specialty established to provide more comprehensive and effective care to patients presenting to the emergency department. In Korea, a nationwide emergency medical system began to take shape around the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and has since developed rapidly under strong government support as the importance and urgency of emergency medical care gained greater recognition in the wake of large-scale disasters such as the Sampoong Department Store collapse in the mid-1990s.
▶ Emergency Medical Support Status and history of Emergency Medicine Department
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Major Medical Aid Details and history |
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December 29, 2004 - January 10, 2005 |
Medical aid in areas affected by tsunami in Sri Lanka |
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October 2005 |
Medical aid for the earthquake in Pakistan |
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May 28 - June 5, 2006 |
Medical aid for Indonesia Yogyakarta |
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April 2014 |
Medical aid at the site of the Sewol ferry incident |
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May 2, 2014 |
Medical aid at the site of the Sangwangsimni train collision |
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April 2016 |
Seoul Severe Emergency Patient Transport Project (SMICU) begins |
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January 201 |
Transportation of students at traffic accidents in Cambodia |
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March 2020 |
esignation of COVID-19 Severe Emergency Medical Center in Seoul |
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November 2020 |
Selected as the final treatment center for severe trauma in Seoul |
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October 2022 |
Seoul National University Medical Research Institute Disaster Medicine Research Center opened |
The Department of Emergency Medicine at Seoul National University Hospital was established in February 1996, and as of May 2026, comprises 21 faculty members, 2 clinical fellows, and 24 emergency medicine residents. The Emergency Medical Center at Seoul National University Hospital was designated as the Regional Emergency Medical Center of Seoul in 2000, and after approximately three years of construction, was completed in its current form in 2004. Following its redesignation as the Regional Emergency Medical Center for the Northwestern Seoul area in August 2017, the center now operates an adult emergency room with 36 beds, a pediatric emergency room with 12 beds, a 30-bed emergency short-stay ward, and an emergency intensive care unit with 20 beds. As the Regional Emergency Medical Center for Northwestern Seoul, the center bears responsibility for the definitive care of critically ill emergency patients, and maintains a collaborative system with multiple supporting clinical departments to fulfill this mission.
To provide efficient and systematic emergency medical care, board-certified emergency medicine physicians are present around the clock, overseeing patient care and the management of emergency medical resources. The center delivers the highest level of emergency care not only to patients with conditions intrinsic to emergency medicine — such as cardiac arrest, poisoning, and trauma — but also to emergency patients presenting with a broad range of medical and surgical conditions. In addition, a close collaborative framework is maintained with relevant specialist departments to ensure definitive treatment for time-critical emergencies such as myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular disease, and severe trauma.
Through an integrated collaborative system with departments including internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, anesthesiology and pain medicine, neurology, and radiology, the Emergency Medical Center provides systematic emergency care and specialist consultation 24 hours a day. The Pediatric Emergency Room at Seoul National University Hospital was designated as a Pediatric Specialty Emergency Medical Center on January 1, 2020, and is managed by faculty holding dual board certification in both emergency medicine and pediatrics, ensuring a high standard of pediatric emergency care.
1. Major Diseases Treated and Key Research Fields
Major diseases treated: All diseases and injuries requiring emergency medical care
Key research fields: Resuscitation medicine (adult and pediatric), critical care medicine, pediatric emergency medicine, pre-hospital emergency medical systems, disaster medicine, toxicology
2. Patient Care Guide
• Pediatric patients under 18 years of age will be seen in the Pediatric Emergency Room; adult patients aged 18 and older will be seen in the Adult Emergency Room.
• During periods of emergency department overcrowding, delays in registration may occur.
• Walk-in patients who have completed registration will be triaged by a triage nurse in the triage area, who will assess their symptoms and acuity accordingly. If an infectious disease requiring isolation is suspected during triage, the patient may be directed to a negative-pressure isolation room.
• Following triage, patients will be guided into the emergency room by the triage nurse, at which point care will begin. Depending on the degree of overcrowding, there may be delays in care even after registration.
• Patients arriving by ambulance (including both 119 and private ambulances) will enter through the dedicated ambulance entrance into the triage area, where rapid triage will be performed. Patients determined to be in a critical condition will be transferred to the critical care area or resuscitation room. Those who arrive by ambulance but are assessed as not requiring emergency-level care will be seen in the general patient area.
• In each care area, necessary emergency interventions will be provided alongside physical examination and diagnostic workup. Laboratory results generally take several hours to return, and additional imaging such as CT or MRI may be ordered at the discretion of the treating physician. A final diagnosis and treatment plan will be established based on an integrated assessment of the patient's history, physical findings, and test results; disposition — including discharge, admission, or transfer — will be determined according to the patient's medical condition and acuity. Specialist consultation will be arranged as needed throughout this process.
• Care in the emergency department is not always provided in order of arrival; treatment priority is determined by each patient's acuity and medical condition.
3. Important Notes for Patient Transfer
• If a patient currently receiving care at another medical institution wishes to be seen at our Emergency Medical Center, the referring physician must contact our center in advance to confirm availability. Because the resources available for emergency care are limited, arriving without prior coordination between medical teams may result in inability to provide timely surgery or other necessary interventions — a situation that could pose a serious risk to patient safety. Prior to inter-facility transfer, the referring physician must contact our center to inquire about and confirm acceptance.
• Patients referred from external institutions are encouraged to bring relevant documentation — including referral letters and recent test results (laboratory and imaging) — as these will assist in the delivery of care.