Overview
SNUH Department of Emergency Medicine, founded in February 1996, consists of 25 professors (including regional/adjunct professors), 11 clinical lecturers, and 29 residents, and provides medical care for approximately 70,000 emergency patients every year.
Following its designation as the Seoul Regional Emergency Medical Center in July 2000, SNUH Emergency Medical Center was opened in April 2004 after 3 years of construction. Since then, it has faithfully served as the only regional emergency medical center in Seoul, and as the highest-grade emergency medical center for Seoul residents. In 2016, it was newly designated as the Regional Emergency Medical Center for the northwest area of Seoul, and went through an extension and remodeling process that finished in August 2017; since then, it has become a more active regional emergency medical center.
In 1985, SNUH opened its Children’s Emergency Room, the first emergency room in Korea dedicated to providing medical care for children. It was designated as an emergency room for children only and separated from the Adult Emergency Room in 2013. Today, it is located on the 1st floor of SNUH Children’s Hospital. It is managed and operated by faculty who are qualified professional doctors in pediatrics and adolescents, ensuring high quality pediatric emergency medical care. The faculty are committed to quickly diagnosing and resolving various conditions experienced by children, including pediatric emergencies, severe trauma, child abuse, etc. through 24/7 cooperation with multiple professional clinical departments in the Children’s Hospital.
As of April 2020 SNUH Regional Emergency Medical Center has an Adult Emergency Room with a total of 37 beds, the Children’s Emergency Room with 12 beds, the Short-term Emergency Ward with 30 beds, and an Emergency ICU with 20 beds, enabling rapid and effective treatment.
Inside the emergency rooms, an emergency general imaging room, emergency sonography/reading room and emergency CT room as well as a space for consultation are provided. At the Children’s Emergency Room, a breastfeeding room, enema room and waiting room are available for the convenience of patients and their guardians.
Professional doctors engaged in the Department of Emergency Medicine reside in the center on a 24-hour basis while providing medical care and management in emergency rooms for efficient and systematic emergency care. They perform rapid medical care for patients with various conditions involving internal medicine and surgery, as well as those involving emergency medicine such as CPR, intoxication and trauma. In addition, they are working closely with professional clinical doctors in other departments as appropriate to ensure that patients with severe conditions requiring treatment as fast as possible, such as myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular diseases, and severe trauma, can receive their final treatment with no delays. SNUH Regional Emergency Medical Center also plays a central role in regional disaster control through education and training for emergency healthcare staff and dispatch of staff in preparation against and following the occurrence of disasters.
Medical Treatment Information
Patients arriving at the Adult Emergency Room are admitted either through the gate for ambulatory emergency patients or the ambulance gate. Then, they are moved to the emergency & severe emergency patient zone, preliminary examination room, trauma treatment CAST room, emergency operation room, critical pathway patient zone, CPR room, or quarantined sound pressure room as appropriate, to receive evaluation and treatment according to their condition and its severity. Patients arriving at the Children’s Emergency Room on the 1st floor of the Children’s Hospital are moved to the first examination zone, where they are evaluated. For those who are considered critical patients based on this evaluation, medical care is promptly initiated in the CPR room. For patients younger than 3 months the initial evaluation and treatment are provided in the observation zone; for patients 3 months and up this will take place in the consultation room.