Emergency allergy help in Korea
What to prepare before you travel
Ask the doctor who manages your allergy what a trip to Korea means for you, and get a short written summary of your diagnosis and your usual treatment that you can show to someone who does not speak your language. Ask as well whether to carry emergency medication and how to carry it through an airport.
Tell the people you travel with what your allergy is, what a reaction looks like on you, and who calls for help if it happens. If you travel alone, write the same on a card in your wallet or on your phone lock screen. Check before you leave that your insurance covers emergency treatment abroad.
Recognizing a serious reaction
Follow the warning signs your own doctor has given you. Otherwise, treat trouble breathing, swelling of the throat or tongue, a tight chest, faintness, or a sudden drop in alertness as urgent, and treat a reaction that reaches more than one part of the body as serious.
If you are not sure how serious it is, assume that it is and ask for help early. Say that you think you are having an allergic reaction, and name the food if you know it. Use emergency medication as your doctor instructed you to, and ask for help afterwards even if you feel better, because a reaction can return.
Getting help fast in a restaurant
Get the attention of staff at once, say that you need an ambulance, and ask them to call 119 for you. They can give the address in Korean, which is the part that is hardest to do in a language you do not speak. In a hotel, ask the front desk, which can also direct paramedics to your room.
Do not set out for a hospital on your own once a serious reaction has started. Sit or lie down where you are and stay with someone. If you are outside and alone, go into the nearest shop, pharmacy, or hotel lobby and ask for help there.
The number for an ambulance is 119, which is also the fire service. If you have to call yourself, ask for English or for an interpreter as soon as the call connects, and expect a short wait while one is brought onto the line; that wait is the reason to ask someone nearby to call instead. Save the number in your phone before you need it, and check any other number in information published by a Korean public authority.
Carrying medication and finding a pharmacy
Bring enough of your emergency medication to last the whole trip, with a spare. An adrenaline auto-injector is not something you can pick up at a Korean pharmacy: getting one here generally means a specialist prescription at a large hospital, which is out of reach on a short visit. Carry it on you rather than in a bag left at a hotel, keep it in its original packaging with the label attached, bring the prescription or a letter from your doctor, and make sure someone you travel with knows where it is and how it is used.
Look for a green cross first, then for a single large Korean character, 약 (pronounced yak), usually in red on a white sign that juts out from the building. The shop name itself ends in 약국 (yakguk). Pharmacies sit near clinics and hospitals. Fewer open late at night or on public holidays, and a pharmacy is not where to go when a reaction is serious.
Write down the active ingredient of your medication rather than the brand name, because brands differ between countries. Ask your doctor before you travel whether an equivalent is sold in Korea, and do not count on buying a replacement over the counter.
Hospitals, clinics, and the language barrier
Emergency departments at large hospitals are open at any hour. Ordinary clinics keep office hours and are usually closed on Sundays and public holidays, so a reaction that happens on a holiday belongs with an emergency department. Some large hospitals run a foreign patient service; check a current official list for the city you are visiting.
Carry a short written note of your allergy, your regular medication, and anything else a doctor should know. It works when speaking is difficult. The order card from this site is written for restaurant staff and lists what you avoid, so it is not a medical document and does not describe your treatment.
What to do after an incident
Write down what you were given, along with the name of the hospital or clinic and the date, and ask for a summary in English before you leave. Your own doctor and your insurer are both likely to ask for it.
Find out what the food contained rather than guessing. Keep the packaging, or write down the dish and the place while you remember them, and ask staff what went into a sauce or a broth.
Ask a doctor before you carry on as planned. If you used your emergency medication and have no spare left, treat that as a reason to change the trip rather than a problem to solve here, because an adrenaline auto-injector is close to impossible for a visitor to obtain in Korea.