Emergency Room Visits Decrease Amid 'Medical Crisis'... But Deaths 'Increase'

Over 3.49 Million Emergency Room Visits Recorded Through June This Year

Despite a slight decrease in the number of emergency room visits this year amid an ongoing medical service gap lasting about eight months, the number of deaths within emergency rooms has somewhat increased.

According to data received on the 9th from the Ministry of Health and Welfare by Kim Mi-ae, a ruling party secretary of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee from the People Power Party, the number of emergency room visits decreased by 5.8%, from 9,055,185 in 2019 to 8,532,294 (provisional) last year. This year, with most residents having left due to conflicts between the medical community and the government, 3,494,752 (provisional) patients visited emergency rooms up to June.

Medical staff are moving in front of the Regional Emergency Medical Center at Ewha Mokdong Hospital in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul on the 4th. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

Although the second half of the year remains, the number of emergency room visits in the first half was only about 41% of last year's total. If this ratio continues, the total number of patients this year is expected to decrease compared to last year. This can be interpreted as an effect of the government operating an emergency medical system in response to the medical-government conflict, requesting patients with mild symptoms to refrain from visiting emergency rooms, and managing emergency rooms to focus on severe patients.

On the other hand, the number of patients who died in emergency rooms increased by 10.7%, from 30,328 in 2019 to 33,574 (provisional) last year. The number of deaths in emergency rooms in the first half of this year was 16,237, about 48% of last year's total.

The number of patients who died before arriving at the hospital (DOA) decreased by 8.4%, from 16,935 in 2019 to 15,091 last year. The number of DOA patients in the first half of this year was 7,480, about 49% of last year's figure.