Ajou University Pediatric Emergency Room

A 24-hour emergency care organization for children and adolescents operated by Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, serving as a major hub for pediatric emergency medical care in sout

Ajou University Pediatric Emergency Room

Overview

The Ajou University Pediatric Emergency Room is an organization that provides emergency care for pediatric and adolescent patients within Ajou University Hospital (a tertiary general hospital) located in Woncheon-dong, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. The emergency room aims to respond to severe pediatric patients 24 hours a day through cooperation between pediatric specialists and emergency medical personnel in a pediatric care area separated from adults. It is regarded as one of the core medical institutions that shares the demand for pediatric emergency care in the southern Gyeonggi region.

Main Content

Location and Scale

Ajou University Hospital is a tertiary general hospital located in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, and operates both an emergency medical center and a pediatrics care system. Pediatric emergency patients receive priority examination in a pediatric-only area within the emergency medical center and, if necessary, are linked to the pediatrics ward or intensive care unit. The hospital's pediatrics department has a system of collaborative consultation across subspecialties including neonatology, pediatric respiratory, gastroenterology, neurology, cardiology, hematology-oncology, and endocrinology, allowing emergency room care and inpatient treatment to continue in sequence.

Patients Served and Major Conditions

The main patients served are children and adolescents aged 18 or under, and emergency situations involving newborns and infants are also included. Representative reasons for visiting include high fever and febrile seizures; respiratory infections such as acute bronchiolitis and pneumonia; acute gastroenteritis accompanied by dehydration; acute asthma exacerbation; seizures and decreased consciousness; severe allergic reactions; pediatric surgical emergencies such as hernia and intussusception; trauma such as fractures and lacerations; and poisoning and foreign body ingestion accidents. In particular, fever in infants, difficulty breathing, cyanosis, prolonged seizures, severe dehydration, and head injury are presented as emergency signals requiring immediate evaluation.

Care System and Collaborative Consultation

Pediatric emergency care proceeds from initial assessment (triage, measurement of vital signs) to examination by a pediatric specialist and, if necessary, diagnostic tests such as imaging, blood tests, and urinalysis. Patients with a high severity level receive treatment in the resuscitation area, and the decision on whether to perform surgical treatment is made through collaborative consultation with related departments such as surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedics, and otolaryngology. Linkage to admission in the pediatric intensive care unit and neonatal intensive care unit is possible, and when necessary, patient transfer is also carried out through an inter-hospital transfer system between higher-level hospitals.

Usage Procedure and Precautions

Emergency patients can visit without a separate appointment, but because the emergency room provides care in order of severity, waiting times may occur. Upon visiting, it is helpful for guardians to prepare the time of symptom onset, temperature records, medications taken, allergies and underlying diseases, and vaccination history. For infants under 3 months of age with a fever of 38 degrees or higher, seizures lasting more than 5 minutes, difficulty breathing and cyanosis, decreased responsiveness, severe dehydration, massive bleeding, or head injury, one should call 119 or visit the emergency room without delay. On the other hand, for mild cold symptoms or simple wounds, checking clinics or hospitals capable of pediatric care at night or on holidays first helps reduce emergency room overcrowding. Because emergency room operating hours and the ages eligible for care change frequently depending on hospital circumstances, it is safer to confirm before visiting through the hospital's main phone number or the emergency medical information system.

Latest Trends

After the mass resignation of resident physicians in February 2024, the domestic pediatric emergency medical system underwent major changes such as manpower shortages and reduced operations. Including major tertiary general hospitals in the metropolitan area, several medical institutions partially adjusted the night and holiday operating hours of pediatric emergency rooms or reduced bed operations, and Ajou University Hospital has also flexibly adjusted care hours and staffing within this trend. Since then, with the reorganization of a specialist-centered care system and efforts to expand pediatric emergency personnel continuing, operations are in the process of recovering in stages.

Another trend in 2024–2025 is the strengthening of regional self-sufficiency. The government and local governments are expanding the foundation for night and holiday pediatric care centered on specialized pediatric emergency medical centers and regional emergency medical centers, and are pursuing improvements to triage and transfer systems to reduce emergency room overcrowding. From the guardian's perspective, it is recommended to confirm in advance which institutions can provide care by using 119 emergency consultation, the emergency medical portal (E-Gen), and information on clinics and hospitals providing night care, and because information on pediatric emergency room operations is subject to frequent change, confirmation before visiting is essential.