Background
: Nation-wide medical insurance has been offered since July 1, 1989 and 129 Emergency Patients Information Center, and emergency medical system has been in operation since July 1, 1991. Emergency patients and those acutely died, however, have been ever increasing. By analyzing emergency patients died, authors made this study to reevaluate the role of doctors of family medicine in emergency medical care who are in responsible for primary medical care.

Methods : Out of 23,802 patients who visited the emergency room of Seoul Christian General Hospital from January 1, 1990 to December 31, 1991, authors examined emergency care charts of 326 patients who died during emergency care at the emergency room and those died before getting to the emergency room.

Results : The total number of patients died was 326 with the ratio of 2 to 1 between male and females. By age, the largest number of patients(19.60%) was in their fifties. In particular, more than half(61.00%) of patients died were in the age of 20 to 59, the period of energetic social and economical activity. Classified by the cause of death, the number of existing diseases(38.04%). The largest number of patients(30.00%) visited the emergency room within 30 minutes after accidents or attacks of diseases. Most of the cases(60.80%) were occurred at Choongrang-ku and 38.70% of the total cases were carried by family members.

Conclusion : The medical care for emergency patients should be done on the spot with the occurrence of the emergency cases. The education to the emergency medical care specialists who actually do emergency care on the spot as well as generals who generally get to the spot first is very important. In this point of view, doctors of family medicine who in charge of primary treatment should alway keep in mind the fact the they the emergency care is one of special fields of primary treatment. They should provide the most efficient, economical and effective emergency medical care with professional knowledge and technique of emergency care.