The Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, was established in 1969 under the name ‘Emergency Medicine Unit’ together with the opening for service of Ramathibodi Hospital that aimed to provide 24 hours service for all patients with severe symptoms that require immediate treatment who come to the emergency room (ER). In addition, it has been the learning center for medical, residency and nursing students, as well as training courses for international students. Moreover, it has also been the data center for medical doctors from other departments to use in research works along with creating innovations for patient treatment. The Emergency Medicine Unit has been operating directly under the Dean’s Office having the Dean responsible for the administration and operation that consists of the administrative office of the emergency medicine unit, emergency room, observation unit 1 for observing 23 beds of female patients and 13 beds of children patients, and observation unit 2 for observing 23 beds of male patients.
In the year 2004, the meeting of the director board of the Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital had agreed to initiate residency training in emergency medicine to create knowledge in the field of emergency medicine as well as to support research in this field and to develop from the Emergency Medicine Unit into the Department of Emergency Medicine. The Department of Emergency Medicine Establishing Project had eventually become the Department of Emergency Medicine which was established on 6 September, 2010 according to the announcement of Mahidol University in the university’s working divisions and been having the Head of Department among the Faculty’s board of directors with the duty to supervise the management of Department of Emergency Medicine to comply with the mission of the faculty. Previously, the Department of Emergency Medicine was located on the 1st floor of Building 2 (the current Nursing Building) and had been relocated on 3rd May, 2010 to 3rd floor of the Center for Accident and Emergency Medicine Building which was newly built and was officially opened on 27th April, 2010.