A recent survey of health care workers revealed serious labor shortages at the nation’s emergency rooms.

According to the Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union on Tuesday, a survey of workers at 65 medical facilities between last Wednesday and Monday found that 42 facilities, or 64-point-six percent of the total, could not keep up with patient needs.

Thirty-three facilities, or 50-point-seven percent of the total, said their emergency rooms had cut back on service since trainee doctors walked out in February to protest the increased admissions quota for medical schools. Forty percent, however, reported no changes.

Sixty-one facilities, or 93-point-eight percent of the total, said their emergency rooms were operating every day, with 61 facilities saying they treated patients around the clock.

The union has called on the trainee doctors to promptly return to work.

It urged the political community and the media to stand with patients and the public, not with the doctors' groups that are calling for lower admissions quotas.