This article introduced the commonly used screening tools for unmet needs of palliative care in emergency patients at home and abroad, including Palliative Care and Rapid Emergency Screening (P-CaRES), Screen for Palliative and End-of-life care needs in the Emergency Department (SPEED), Simplified Screening Tool (SST), Emergency Department-PALliative Service (ED-PALS). The content, characteristics, and application of screening tools are summarized to help medical staff choose the appropriate tool to identify patients with unmet palliative care needs and provide references for formulating follow-up intervention measures.