• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.42
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• pp.39.1-39.5
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• 2020

Background: Head or scalp injury is a life-threatening and typically accidental human injury. Most medical departments require immediate medical treatment and proper treatment with specialized medical personnel and facilities. However, in low-resource environments, such as the rural region of West Africa, the authors have treated emergency trauma patients and provided immediate treatment despite lack of resources. Case presentation: We reviewed three cases of scalp injury patients, with representative clinical information, and used these cases to outline feedback on scalp trauma treatment based on the specialty knowledge of general and emergency surgeon. Conclusions: Oral and maxillofacial surgeons are medical specialists that can immediately diagnose and treat these scalp injuries based on their medical knowledge and experience with the maxillofacial region.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.878-888
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• 2022

Objective: To investigate the clinical impact of a quality improvement program including dedicated emergency radiology personnel (QIP-DERP) on the management of emergency surgical patients in the emergency department (ED). Materials and Methods: This retrospective study identified all adult patients (n = 3667) who underwent preoperative body CT, for which written radiology reports were generated, and who subsequently underwent non-elective surgery between 2007 and 2018 in the ED of a single urban academic tertiary medical institution. The study cohort was divided into periods before and after the initiation of QIP-DERP. We matched the control group patients (i.e., before QIP-DERP) to the QIP-DERP group patients using propensity score (PS), with a 1:2 matching ratio for the main analysis and a 1:1 ratio for sub-analyses separately for daytime (8:00 AM to 5:00 PM on weekdays) and after-hours. The primary outcome was timing of emergency surgery (TES), which was defined as the time from ED arrival to surgical intervention. The secondary outcomes included ED length of stay (LOS) and intensive care unit (ICU) admission rate. Results: According to the PS-matched analysis, compared with the control group, QIP-DERP significantly decreased the median TES from 16.7 hours (interquartile range, 9.4-27.5 hours) to 11.6 hours (6.6-21.9 hours) (p < 0.001) and the ICU admission rate from 33.3% (205/616) to 23.9% (295/1232) (p < 0.001). During after-hours, the QIP-DERP significantly reduced median TES from 19.9 hours (12.5-30.1 hours) to 9.6 hours (5.7-19.1 hours) (p < 0.001), median ED LOS from 9.1 hours (5.6-16.5 hours) to 6.7 hours (4.9-11.3 hours) (p < 0.001), and ICU admission rate from 35.5% (108/304) to 22.0% (67/304) (p < 0.001). Conclusion: QIP-DERP implementation improved the quality of emergency surgical management in the ED by reducing TES, ED LOS, and ICU admission rate, particularly during after-hours.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.585-594
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• 2018

Objective: This study was designed to report on the progress of the fire at Jecheon sports complex and to assess the adequacy of Disaster Medical Assistant Team (DMAT)'s activities in response to the fire disaster. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review based on camera recordings and medical records that were recorded at the disaster site for assessment of activities. We cooperated with firefighters, police officers, local hospital medical staffs and public health personnel in Jecheon in order to classify patients in the disaster field and to understand the patients' progress. Results: At 15:53, the first request for emergency rescue came to the 119 general emergency call center, and a request for DMAT activation came at 16:28. DMAT arrived at the site at 17:04 and remained active until the following day at 00:43. The total number of casualties was 60, including 27 minimal (Green) patients, 29 expectant (Black) patients, three delayed (Yellow) patients, and one immediate (Red) patient. There were 32 patients who received on-site care by DMAT. Two patients were transferred from a local hospital to Wonju Severance Christian Hospital for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Conclusion: Twenty-nine victims were found in the sports complex building, and there were 31 mildly to moderately injured patients in this fire disaster. The main cause of death was thought to be smoke suffocation. Although DMAT was activated relatively quickly, it was not able to provide effective activity due to the late rescue and difficulty with fire suppression.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.379-386
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• 2022

Emergency medical services (EMS) personnel are at high risk for adverse mental health outcomes during disease outbreaks. To support the development of evidence-informed mitigation strategies, we conducted a scoping review to identify the extent of research pertaining to EMS personnel's mental health during disease outbreaks and summarized key factors associated with mental health outcomes. We systematically searched three databases for articles containing keywords within three concepts: EMS personnel, disease outbreaks, and mental health. We screened and retained original peer-reviewed articles that discussed, in English, EMS personnel's mental health during disease outbreaks. Where inferential statistics were reported, the associations between individual and work-related factors and mental health outcomes were synthesized. Twenty-five articles were eligible for data extraction. Our findings suggest that many of the contributing factors for adverse mental health outcomes are related to inadequacies in fulfilling EMS personnel's basic safety and informational needs. In preparation for future disease outbreaks, resources should be prioritized toward ensuring adequate provisions of personal protective equipment and infection prevention and control training. This scoping review serves as a launching pad for further research and intervention development.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.99-104
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• 2008

As a part of improving early response system for senior emergency patients in rural areas in preparation for accelerated transition of Korea into aged society, this study seeks to make effective use of town broadcasting equipments and improve conventional educational ways for the first aid for senior people to boost up availability of private rescue personnel, so that it can contribute to improving capacity to early response to potential occurrence of emergency situations. In addition, this study focuses on profiling current activities of 119 geriatric Emergency Medical Services available in Korea, and also exploring possible ways to improve emergency services for senior safety which can play useful roles of social safeguard in imminent aged society as well as efficient ways to build up infrastructure for senior safety on the basis of opening up senior safety center.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.115-137
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the extended job of paramedic after the 1st job description in 2000 by the National Health Personnel Licensing Examination Board. Methods: This study was carried out from May 2012 to July 2013 on the Developing A Curriculum (DACUM) method to analysts 330 responses among 400 questionnaires (response rate 82.5%) after analysing 30 pilot questionnaires. In order to enhance validity and reliability of this job description, 2 job analysts in universities and 10 EMT-Paramedics in hospitals and fire stations were recruited. Results: There were differences between 166 (year 2000) and 240 (2012) in task element. There were higher answering at triaging patient(2.64 frequency, 4.15 importance), calling for help(2.68 frequency, 4.07 importance) in disaster emergency care. There were higher answering at measuring vital sign (3.95 frequency, 4.22 importance), measuring ECG(3.84 frequency, 4.14 importance), wound care(3.48 frequency, 3.86 importance), bleeding control & wound care(3.46 frequency, 3.86 importance), applying $O_2$(3.40 frequency, 3.94 importance) in physician assistant. Conclusion: Scope of extended practice as a physician assistant in hospital setting recommended us to replace the present curriculum and national exam with new curriculum and national written & skill test.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.117-128
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• 2020

Purpose: This study analyzed the information and accessibility of toxic substances provided to Internet websites. Methods: From August 1, 2020, to August 31, 2020, we analyzed eight internet websites regarding toxic pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and chemicals. The website-evaluation criteria were divided into five categories for information and five categories for website convenience. Results: All eight websites about toxic substances were hosted by reliable institutions or organizations and provided accurate information in terms of informational relevance. The website run by the Safety and Health Corporation scored the highest with 100points. Analysis of the websites' accessibility to non-members' revealed that six (75.0%) were accessible, but two (12.5%) provided only limited information. Access to information through mobile apps was only available in three of the eight cases (37.5%). Conclusion: This study can be used as a reference for Internet websites about toxic substances. Toxicological information that can be viewed only with membership and manager approval requires membership in advance of viewing. In addition, emergency medical personnel working at a site or hospital should be familiar with the characteristics of toxicity information retrieval.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.179-187
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• 2004

The purpose of the study was to injury types in Daegu subway fire accident, Sampung department store collapse, Mokpo airport civil aircraft accident, and Buan sunken ship disaster. The conclusion obtained from these analyses are as following. 1. The total of victims were Sampung department store collapse(l440 people). Buan sunken ship disaster(355 people), Daegu subway fire accident(340 people), and Mokpo airport civil aircraft accident(110 people). 2. The total of dead people were Sampung department store collapse(502 people), Buan sunken ship disaster(287 people), Daegu subway fire accident(192 people), and Mokpa airport civil aircraft accident(66 people). 3. The total of injured people were Sampung department store collapse(938 people), Daegu subway fire accident(148 people), Mokpo airport civil aircraft accident(84 people), and Buan sunken ship disaster(67 people). 4. The major types of victims presented smoke inhalation such as coughing, dyspnea, and sore throat in Daegu subway fire accident. 5. The major types of victims presented crushing(multiple fractures), vertebral, and soft tissues injuries in Sampung department store collapse. 6. The major types of victims presented multiple fractures. In addition to, a lot of people showed vertebral injuries and shock symptoms in Mokpo airport civil aircraft accident. 7. The major types of victims presented drowning as well lots of hypothermia patients in Buan sunken ship disaster. There were a wide variety of types in human disaster. Therefore, the most important disaster training program need to each disaster aspect in the local emergency medical services system. Moreover, the emergency medical services personnel should be understand and training for injury types of each human disaster.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.199-210
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• 2004

Since the 119 fire department was legally permitted to serve in Emergency Medical Service(EMS)Operation of emergency patients in 1983, 119 EMS operation in general has made a big progress in serving the needs for emergency patients. Currently EMS operation is carried out by 119 EMS unit, private ambulance Co.,etc. But due to the public recognition and volunteers, 119 EMS operation carries the major share of the service. This observation is not surprising in that such a trends occured in Japan 20 years ago. This paper compared the 119 EMS operation conducted by the fire department in Korea with that of Japan in order to draw some inferences from the comparison. The results of the study compared to Japan were as follows: 1. Japan was higher 1.5 times in the number of EMS units per population(100,000), 1.1 times in the number of patient transports per unit. 2. Japan was higher 4.54 times in the number of the 119 EMS personnel per population(100,000), 30.6 times in that per square killometers, 30.6 times per 119 EMS unit, in per ambulance 2.48times. 3. Japan was higher 1.83 times in the number of ambulance per population(100,000), 1.26 times in that per square killo meters. 4. Japan was higher 1.7 times in the number of transport patients per population (100,000), but Korea was higher 2.68 times in the transport patients per EMS personal. 5. Compared to Japan, there was no emergency care related to ALS, for example, such as administering dugs orally and intravenously, interpreting elctrocardiograms, performing endotracheal tube or LMA insertion, using monitors and other complex equipments in Korea.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.104-112
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• 2007

Simulators were introduced in education as a tool to make advanced training standardized, less expensive, and without danger to those involved. In 1922 in the Unites States, Edward Link presented his homemade flight simulator, which became common place in both military and civilian aviation, known as the "Link Trainer". The development of mannequin simulators used for medical simulation education, training, and research is reviewed, tracing the motivations, evolution to commercial availability, and efforts toward assessment of efficacy of those for teaching cardiopulmonary resuscitation(CPR) for medical personnel and emergency medical technicians(EMT), cardiology skills, anaesthesia clinical skills, and crisis management. This study will provide a brief overview of simulators and trainers in several domains.