• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.180-187
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• 2010

Purpose: The "golden hour" concept in trauma is pervasive despite little evidence to support it. This study addressed the association between prehospital time and in-hospital mortality in seriously injured abdominal trauma victims. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted over a three-year period from 2006 to 2008. We analyzed trauma victims with abdominal injuries who underwent an emergency laparotomy in a local emergency center located in a city with a population of 2,500,000. According to the 'golden hour' oncept, we separated the trauma victims into two groups (Gourp 1: prehospital time ${\leq}$ 1 hour, Group 2: prehospital time > 1hour) and investigated several factors, such as time, process, and outcome. Results: During the period from January 2006 to December 2008 139 trauma victims underwent an emergency laparotomy, and 89 of them were enrolled in this study. Between the two groups, emergency department (ED) access, transportation, and injury mechanism showed statistically meaningful differences, but no statistically meaningful differences were observed in various measures of the outcome, such as length of hospital stay, length of Intensive Care Unit stay, and mortality. In a univariate logistic regression study, age (odds ratio [OR]: 1.101; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.026 to 1.182), Revised Trauma Score (RTS) (OR: 0.444; 95% CI 0.278 to 0.710), hemoglobin (OR: 0.749; 95% CI: 0.585 to 0.960), and creatinine (OR: 24.584; 95% CI: 2.019 to 299.364) were significant prognostic factors, but prehospital time was not. In a multivariate logistic regression study, age and RTS were significant associated with mortality. Conclusion: In this study, we found no association between prehospital time and mortality among abdominal trauma patient who underwent an emergency laparotomy. We suggest that in our current out-of-hospital and emergency care system, until arrival at the hospital time may be less crucial for trauma victims than once thought.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.578-584
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• 2018

Objective: This study examined the initial partial pressure of carbon dioxide ($PCO_2$) as a possible indicator of prehospital ventilation and its association with prehospital i-gel in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients. Methods: The demographics and arrest parameters, including i-gel insertion and initial arterial blood gas analysis, of OHCA patients who visited the emergency department were analyzed retrospectively. Linear regression analysis was performed to examine the association between i-gel insertion and the initial $PCO_2$. Results: A total of 106 patients were investigated. Fifty-six patients had prehospital i-gel insertion and 50 patients did not have a prehospital advanced airway. The initial $PCO_2$ was higher in the i-gel group than the no advanced airway group (105.2 mmHg [77.5-134.9] vs. 87.5 mmHg [56.8-115.3], P=0.03). Prehospital i-gel insertion was associated with a higher initial $PCO_2$ level (${\beta}$ coefficient, 20.3; 95% confidence interval, 2.6-37.9; P=0.03). Conclusion: Prehospital insertion of i-gel was associated with higher initial $PCO_2$ values in OHCA patients compared to no advanced airway.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.163-174
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• 2007

Purpose : This study analyzes prehospital care report of emergency service at prehospital stage, examines characteristics of activities of 119 paramedics and its users and aims to provide help for improving emergency system in future. Methods : Data collected were 119 prehospital care report and hospital records with 7,160 patients to emergency room by 119 ambulance from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2006 and percentage and frequency of the data were obtained. Results : 1) Use of emergency room by 119 ambulance was increased in summer and autumn such as August(9.1%), September(11.2%) and October(13.5%) and it was more frequently used on Monday(17.3%), Saturday(17.2%) and Friday(16.1%) by telephone(98.6%). 2) Using emergency room was most in over sixties(51.8%), men(64.2%), community residents (78.3%), by report of family(50.3%) and at '09:01~12:00'(16.5%). 3) Symptoms of emergency room users included headache, chest pain, stomachache, lumbago and others as 40.6% and places where patients were found were at home(60.1%) due to chronic internal diseases at 49.2%. 4) Most of non-emergency patients(80.2%) arriving at hospital had normal pupil condition (88.4%) and clear consciousness(71.2%) and most of them left hospital after having first-aid treatment. 5) Physiological symptom tests evaluated by paramedics at prehospital stage included blood pressure(56.6%), pulse(22.9%), breathing(13.0%) and temperature(9.2%), and there was no SPo2 case. 6) Classification of severity by paramedics showed difference as emergency patients(18.0%) by paramedics and those(24.9%) by hospital. 7) First-aid treatments by paramedics at prehospital stage were promoting comfort(28.9%), hemostasis(7.7%), fixing cervical vertebrae(4.0%) and ensuring vein route(3.1%). 8) Selectors of medical agency were patients or guardians(86.2%) and emergency medical technicians(73.6%). Conclusion : To sum up the above research, it was found that percentage of using 119 ambulance by non-emergency patients was higher and paramedics performed basic first-aid treatment rather than professional first-aid treatment due to several conditions such as legal problems, range of allowance, etc. Therefore, it is considered that method to reduce frequency of ambulance by non-emergency patients and approaches to alleviate limitations of allowance of paramdeics to make them perform effective first-aid treatment at prehospital stage should be sought in the dimension of individual, organization and government.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.55-69
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• 2008

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to analyze the prehospital care report prepared by EMS squads of 119 center in Gyeonggi area and to identify the status of prehospital care activities, problems and improvement possibilities of the emergency care. Method : Five hundred copies of prehospital care report prepared by EMS squads in thirty-eight 119 centers under 18 fire stations in Gyeonggi area from March to April in 2008 were randomly chosen for the analysis. Data abstracted according to the purpose of the study were input and the analysis of prehospital care activities were performed using SPSS-WIN(ver. 16) statistics package. Results : 1. Total 500 cases of prehospital emergency care activities were reviewed. By sex, females were 219 (43.8%) and males were 281 (56.2%). The places of reporting were home (57.8%). According to the type of emergency, 281 cases (56.2%) were caused by disease and 291 (43.8%) were from other causes such as traffic accidents or incidental injuries. 2 The average time needed for the 119 EMS squad to arrive at the scene after being reported was 7.29 minutes. The time used at the scene for the emergency care was 7.3 minutes in average and the time to arrive at the hospital was 25.4 minutes in average. 3. In patient evaluation, in 68% of the cases more than two vital signs were measured at one time and emergency patients were 31%, and non-emergency patients were 69%. 4. In one EMS activity, average 2.15 cases of emergency care were provided to a patient. The cases where two kinds of emergency care were given were 14.4%, which is the most frequent cases. When reviewing the details of the emergency cares given to the patient including multiple cares, trivial cards (taking it easy and giving comfort) were the most frequent one as 40.6% and the medical direction of the doctor was given in only one case out of 500 cases. 5. In patient evaluation and emergency care, vital signs were provided to emergency patients at significantly higher rate comparing to the non-emergency patients. The number of emergency care performance was significantly higher in emergency cases. In emergency dispatch, the cases that EMT (1st class) was on board was 86.2%. When comparing the cases when the 1st class EMT was on board and otherwise, the cases with the presence of 1st class EMT showed more vital signs were detected but there was no significant difference in the number of emergency cares provided. Conclusion : It seemed that the on-scene emergency care did not satisfy the expectations. So it is necessary to enforce the cooperation between the elements, the qualifications of the 119 EMS squads and to improve the prehospital working environment in order to provide the better medical service at any time.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.154-162
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• 2003

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate factors which can delay hospital arrival for patients with acute stroke. Method: The participants for this study were 102 patients who were admitted to the Department of Neurology in a hospital in Chungnam province. Data were collected from Oct, 2002 to June, 2003. The data were analyzed with frequencies, percentages, and $x^2$ test using the SPSS PC program. Result: The results of this study were as follows: 1. Only 33.8 % of participants arrived at the hospital within 3 hours. 2. Educational level, economic status, people living in same residence, and place of residence were factors which significantly affected prehospital delay time. Also there were significant differences in prehospital delay time according to family history of stroke, day of the week when symptoms began, perception of seriousness of symptoms, type of hospital first used, and transportation. Conclusion: Therefore, to reduce prehospital delay time, educational programs which focus on the above factors need to be developed. Also, a public campaign for utilizing emergency service to reduce transportation time for acute stroke patients need to be facilitated.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.63-78
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• 2013

Purpose : This study aimed to improve quality of prehospital emergency care for the insect bite patients by figuring out its current situations and problems. Methods : This study was conducted to 219 insect bite patients who were transferred to the hospital by 119 ambulance in D-City from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2011. This study was a descriptive study by 119 run sheets. A total of 171 emergency medical technicians(EMTs) working in D-city and C-province completed the questionnaire. All of data were analyzed by SPSS 18.0. Results : Among the 219 patients, bee sting accounted for 62.6% and wasp sting accounted for 20.1%. Some patients complained of dizziness, headache, dyspnea, and disturbance of consciousness. The 119 EMTs initially treated the patients with oxygen supply to 57 patients (31.1%). Knowledge toward insect bite was statistically significant (p=.000) between advanced EMTs and basic EMTs. The obstacle to the prehospital care, many EMTs answered that the obstacle was due to the lack of 119 EMTs. Conclusion : It is necessary to differentiate the patients' symptoms and provide the better prehospital emergency care to verify the exact symptoms and signs.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.249-261
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• 1998

During the past decade or so in Korea, 119 relief squad members were supposed to respord first urgent or emergency cases. The primary purpose of this study was to assess what levels of knowledge and techniques in prehospital care the 119 relief squad members showed. Data regarding the knowledge and technique levels were collected from both the 119 relief squad members (n=63) and the emergency room nurses(n=46). The Results indicated that the 119 relief squad when compared to emergency nurses, showed higher scores for knowledge and techniques in some areas of prehospital care but not in other areas, However, no differences in knowledge and technique were found when the ANOVAs were calculated with two covariates : duration of their career in emergency medical services and frequency of their exposure to lectures on emergency medical technology. In addition, many respondents in the 119 relief squad group rated themselves poorly in knowledge and techniques of prehospital care, The findings imply that qualitatively better curricula should be given to the 119 relief squad members before they are allowed to play an important role in the emergency medical service system. These findings are also discussed in the context of improving the emergency medical service system.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.177-181
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• 2015

Purpose: Assessment of the trauma severity associated with the prognosis of trauma patients. But we are having a lot of difficulties in assess the severity because of scarcity of current first-aid records resources. Methods: We presumed that Applying the Revised trauma score which consist of vital signs and GCS score will be helpful to assess the sevirity.This study covers the 10069 patient of Ewah womans hospital (2011.1.1.-2014.12.31) who are able to verify the GCS score from fist-aid records. Results: There is no distinctions between prehospital RTS and hospital RTS. And shows high level of correlation between prehospital RTS and ISS. Conclusion: Therefore we conclude that checking the GCS and RTS at prehospital state will be help to assess the severity of trauma patients.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.23-28
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• 2012

The aim of this study is to reveal the right approach and prognosis of cerebrovascular accident (CVA) by reviewing the various researches on CVAs. The reviews were done by BNBI PubMed, KMBase, RISS, and KoreaMed. Based on the articles, prevalence rate of CVA, prehospital CVA patients assessment and emergency care, and in-hospital care were analyzed. The most important scales are Cincinnati prehospital stroke scale(CPSS) and Los Angeles prehospital stroke screen(LAPSS). These two scales are the basic assessment tools for CVAs and it is necessary to perform the emergency care by way of these scales.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.101-109
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• 2005

The purpose of this study which was done by 250 Prehospital Care Reports(PCRs) survey of some squads in Seoul Metropolitan Fire & Disaster Management Department was to improve prehospital emergency care by means of quality management. The data were collected in 3 squads from Jun. 21 to Jul. 18, 2004 and analyzed by using SPSS Win 12.0 Version. The conclusions from this study were summarized as follows. The mean time of Event to treatment interval was $4.6{\pm}4.3$ minutes and 49.2% arrived at patient within 4 minutes. Platinum minute was observed 61.1% of verbal response, 73.3% of painful response, 77.8% of unresponsive. The great majority of patients couldn't receive advanced life support on account of limited scope of practice and strict direct medical control in the Emergency Medical Services Act. Data from quality improvement activity will be useful to expand indirect medical control which is able to activate prehospital care. To utilize PCR for quality improvement. It has to have data elements, run data, patient data, check boxes, narrative including US DOT's minimum data set.