Abstract
Pediatric emergency medicine functions as the gatekeeper in children's hospitals and is an integral part of pediatric interdisciplinary medicine. The full functioning of pediatric emergency medicine mandates the full support of pediatric critical care, as the pediatric critical care department will host the management of acutely and critically ill patients. Pediatric critical care, thus, can be considered as a type of pediatric interdisciplinary medicine specializing in critically ill pediatric patients. The concept of patient-centered team care, which is not well developed in Japan, is essential for the sound development of pediatric emergency medicine in Japan. In addition to cooperation between departments, inter-hospital/medical school cooperation to set up appropriate pediatric emergency medicine is mandatory.
