대한외상중환자외과학회

In the midst of the current Korea’s emergency care environmental crisis, We must assume a pivotal role.

Timely and appropriate surgical intervention based on accurate assessment is crucial to the prognosis of surgical emergency patients. Beyond a mere understanding of the pathology, individualized treatment that reflects the patient's clinical status is essential, and comprehensive clinical guidelines rooted in such an approach are needed.

However, the current healthcare environment in Korea makes it difficult to expect such high-quality care and treatment. Although Korea’s medical standards are globally recognized, the care of surgical emergency patients remains an area of weakness.

In most hospitals, emergency patient care and surgery are handled under an on-call duty system, often relying on less experienced junior staff, which leads to frequent trial-and-error. Since senior staff are typically exempt from on-call duties, the cycle of mistakes persists. Moreover, because emergency patient care and surgery are considered auxiliary and burdensome tasks rather than core responsibilities, there is a severe lack of medical professionals willing to take active interest and initiative in this field.

As previously noted, the infrastructure for surgical emergency care has long been underdeveloped due to its dependence on the duty system. This situation has worsened with the recent shortage of surgical residents. Furthermore, the mass resignation of residents triggered by the medical-political conflict in February 2024 has led to frequent cases where patients in need of emergency surgery could not receive appropriate treatment, thereby becoming a serious social issue.

Yet, a practical solution remains elusive. Considering not only this crisis but also factors such as legal risks and poor working conditions, the decline of Korea’s emergency surgical infrastructure is expected to worsen. A systematic and prompt response is therefore imperative.

Accordingly, the KESS should play a key role in improving the quality of emergency surgery for a wide range of surgical emergencies, including surgical procedures, and in establishing emergency surgery infrastructure.

We sincerely request the active participation and generous support of our members in this important initiative.