A warning light flickers in the emergency medical system.

The crisis in the Daejeon-Chungcheong provincial emergency medical centers, the backbone of the central region, has spread to emergency rooms in the Seoul metro region.

The emergency room crisis is shaking the ERs in university hospitals, which rely on trainee doctors. After the mass resignation of junior doctors, emergency medicine specialists who have silently operated in the emergency medical field suffer from burnout, leading to the collapse of emergency rooms.

As the doctor-government conflict prolongs, emergency medicine specialists are also resigning one after another.

Emergency rooms that used to be staffed by four to five people, including interns and residents, are now staffed by one emergency medicine specialist, reducing the number of beds in ERs. Even if there is a bed, patients cannot be accepted due to the lack of specialists. On the other hand, the number of emergency room visits, which had decreased due to the mass resignation of trainee doctors, began to rebound.

According to data recently submitted to Rep. Kim Yoon of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, out of the total 408 emergency medical centers nationwide, the number of ERs that have reduced emergency room beds due to lack of manpower has quadrupled from six on Feb. 23 to 24 on July 31. In contrast, the number of emergency room visits, which decreased from over 580,000 in February to 460,000 in March, increased again to over 550,000 in July.

The outlook is even grimmer.

Many emergency medicine specialists who remain in the field are also considering leaving. According to the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine (KSEM), 90 percent of emergency physicians working in university hospital ERs have “thought about leaving.” They aid that the collapse of university hospital emergency departments is “just beginning.” Even if there are beds, the number of emergency patients who cannot be treated due to the lack of emergency medicine specialists is bound to increase.

“The greater Seoul area is no exception to the collapse of emergency rooms. Over 90 percent of the emergency medicine specialists working here are thinking about leaving,” KSEM President Lee Hyung-min told Korea Medical Review over the phone.

Noting that he works alone in an emergency room in the capital area, Lee showed grave concerns, saying, “Even if there are 10 to 15 patients, I can't treat them properly. It's a dangerous situation regardless of whether we can accept patients.”

University hospitals in Seoul and its vicinity face a similar situation.

“The crisis has recently spread, starting from Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital Cheonan, to Seoul,” said a professor who works in the emergency department of a university hospital in the greater Seoul area. “Initially, I thought it would end in two to three months. After six months, however, I became burned out.”

The professor continued, “Other departments can reduce the number of outpatient care, but the emergency department cannot reduce the number of patients coming to ERs. It's frustrating because the 119 paramedics transfer patients to our ER just looking at the electronic board indicating empty beds. Still, we can't accept them, causing friction with the paramedics.”

The government is reportedly considering measures for emergency departments that would subsidize hiring general practitioners for ERs and allow hospitals to refuse to treat unruly patients, but emergency medicine specialists heave a sigh, expressing “frustration.”

“I don't know who the government discussed with and came up with these measures. I don't know who is thinking of such a stupid idea,” KSEM President Lee said. “Resigned trainee doctors will not return to ERs in university hospitals. I don't think there will be applicants for general practitioners working at ERs. Even if some general practitioners come to ERs, they cannot solve the problem of emergency medical patients.”

Lee continued, “ERs have been collapsing for months, and we could endure until now because there are people who have bolstered ERs with their bodies. However, the government keeps dampening our hopes. There is no longer any will to endure a meaningless situation with no hope of improvement.”