• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.145-151
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• 2012

Purpose: The objective of this study was to determine the appropriateness of Emergency Medical Service's (EMS's) triage and transport of severely injured patients in Busan and Kyungnam, Korea. Methods: The medical records of the Emergency Medical Information Center were retrospectively reviewed from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010. We identified the number of patients that should have been transferred from a secondary to a tertiary hospital according to the EMS field triage protocol. Results: In a total of 472 cases requests to be transferred to a third hospital were made through the Emergency Medical Information Center. Of these, 207 patients(43.9%) should have been transferred to a tertiary hospital according to the EMS field triage protocol. Among them, thirty-three(15.9%) patients satisfied step 1, 15(7.0%) satisfied step 2, and 117(56.5%) satisfied step 3. Twenty-three(11.1%) patients satisfied both steps 1 and 3. Conclusion: We found the triage by the EMS in the transfer of severely injured patients to a tertiary hospital to be inappropriate and re-education of EMS personnel regarding the EMS field triage protocol is needed. Because many patients are transferred from a secondary to a third hospital, we suggest changing the EMS field triage protocol to expand the severe injury criteria. A need exists to authorize secondary hospitals to transfer severely injured patients directly because there are no trauma centers in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.147-155
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to identify vulnerable area of emergency medical care. In the existing method, the emergency medical vulnerable area is set as an area that can not reach the emergency room within 30 minutes. In this study, we set up an area that can not reach within 30 minutes including the accessibility of 119 emergency center. To accomplish this, we obtained information on emergency room and 119 emergency center through Open API and constructed road network using digital map to perform accessibility analysis. As a result, 509 emergency room are located nationwide, 78.0% of them are concentrated in the region, 1,820 emergency center are located, and 61.0% of them are located in rural areas. The average access time from the center of the village to the emergency room was analyzed as 15.3 minutes, and the average access time considering the 119 emergency center was 21.8 minutes, 6.5 minutes more. As a result of considering the accessibility of 119 emergency center, vulnerable areas increased by 2.5 times, vulnerable population increased by 2.0 times, and calculating emergency medical care vulnerable areas, which account for more than 30% of the urban unit population, it was analyzed that it increased from 17 to 34 cities As a further study, it will be necessary to continuously monitor and research the real-time traffic information, medical personnel, medical field, and ambulance information to reflect the reality and to diagnose emergency medical care in the future.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.55-64
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• 2002

This analysis is accomplished by using 331 rescue and medical evacuation cases performed by KangWonDo Fire Service Department Aviation(KFSA-119 Heicopters) between Jan. 1998 and Oct. 2002. By analysing injury causes, annual differences, sexual, scenic(locaional) distribution and wounded part distribution, this study tried to figure out the general tendency of the helicopter-transported patients in Korea. The results are as follows; 1. The whole population of the patients rescued and transported by helicopters is increasing by the annual rate of 150%~200%. 2. For the locational (scenic) distribution of the patients, 57% (190 cases) of the target population were injured on their mountain-climbing or tracking. 3. 12% (41 cases) of the target population were the Inter-Hospital transport cases. 4. 6% (16 cases) were the expired cases. 5. for the wounded part distribution, 46% (106 cases) were muscular skeletal injuries. 6. The aircraft and personnel of the KFSA were rescue-oriented, so for the EMS operations especially inter-hospital transport missions, different medical equipments and personnels are needed.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.126-132
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• 2014

Purpose: The field trauma triage for injured patients is essential for trauma care system. In this study, agreement of patient evaluation between by prehospital EMS personnel and by hospital staffs and the appropriateness of prehospital triage were evaluated. Methods: This observational study was conducted from September to October 2012 for 5 weeks. During this period, EMT evaluated patient's severity according to guideline for field triage and recorded. Same guideline was applied in 26 hospitals for patients with EMS use. Kappa statistics were used to measure agreement for each item of guideline. Finally, over-triage and under-triage rate of EMT were calculated. Results: During study period, total 3,106 patients were transferred to 26 hospital emergency departments with EMS use. Kappa statistics for "vital signs" items were 0.45 for mentality lower than V and 0.44 for systolic blood pressure lower than 90 mmHg as a moderate agreement. In "anatomy of injury" items Kappa statistics were very low. In "mechanism of injury" items Kappa statistics were 0.28 for high-rise fall down and 0.27 for high energy traffic accident but in other items Kappa statistics were very low. 362 patients (12.0%) were over-triaged and 281 patients (9.3%) were under-triaged. Conclusion: Field triage can be applied but need to evaluate and modify in order to become accurate and sensitive for decision of transportation.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 1981

The March 1979 accident at Three Mile Island provided physicians specializing in radiation medicine an opportunity to observe the field under conditions never seen before. Since no, injuries occurred at the site or within the community, medical personnel were immediately involved in efforts to allay fear, provide accurate information, and replace labortory resources rendered ineffective by the release in the reactor building. Valuable insights concerning medical emergency planning are derived from the accident; suggestions are made for handling any future mishaps.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.105-111
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• 2019

A medical personnel could be placed beside a patient together in CT room to do Ambu-bag for a seriously ill patients or emergency patient. At this time, the medical personnel can be exposed indirect radiation unnecessarily. In this case, it is necessary to recognize indirect radiation dose levels and methods to reduce them using actual clinical CT protocols such as Chest, Abdomen, and Brain CT. We researched surface radiation dose with or without radiation protectors such as apron and goggles according to different distances far from gantry using two different CT scanners (Fixed MDCT and mobile CT). As a result, for Chest, Abdomen, and Brain CT with Fixed MDCT, indirect radiation dose on thorax portion were 0.047, 0.089, 0.034 mSv without apron. Also, those with apron were 0.007, 0.012, 0.006 mSv. In case of mobile CT, it was 0.014 mSv without apron and 0.005 mSv with apron. By using protectors and increasing the distance, we could reduce it to 97%. Systematic management is necessary based on the measured data in order to minimize radiation damage due to indirect exposure dose.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.81 no.4
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• pp.852-862
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• 2020

Interventional radiology (IR) embolization requires image guidance to steer catheters to the site of bleeding, where embolic agents such as Gelfoam or coils are administered to stem blood flow. In addition to treating iatrogenic trauma, embolization is suitable for injuries precluding surgery such as blush-bleeding of the liver or kidney and for locating and treating intimal blood vessel tears. However, during hospital off-hours (such as nights and holidays), experienced IR personnel are not always available. In such situations, there is a dire need to build a coordinated IR team to treat seriously injured patients rapidly and reliably. This article reviews the current principles and techniques used in IR such as virtual fluoroscopy and their usefulness, and makes a convincing case for emergency IR.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.105-124
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• 2023

Modern society is facing an unstable environment due to unexpected accidents and hazardous situations. For example, incidents such as the collapse of the Bundang Bridge and the crushing accident in Itaewon could serve as examples. In addition to these, critical emergencies like sudden cardiac arrests and strokes frequently occur, requiring swift actions and smooth transfers to specialized medical institutions for effective responses. In response to these risks, the country has been establishing various systems to protect the lives and safety of its citizens. Among these, the 119 First Aid Activities plays a crucial role within the emergency medical system. Its goal is to promptly respond to critical emergency situations involving severe trauma patients or patients with serious illnesses, minimizing damage and safeguarding lives by swiftly transferring them to emergency medical institutions for specialized treatment. The core activity related to this is emergency rescue operations. In particular, the 119 First Aid system serves as a crucial institution responsible for the hospital transportation of emergency patients. However, rescue personnel still encounter cases of interference with their activities during their duties. Despite efforts from the police, these interference cases persist, and they share similarities with the crime of obstructing official duties. Interference with emergency activities exhibits a comparable nature to instances such as physical assaults and equipment damage against emergency medical practitioners working within the emergency medical system. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding and improvement efforts regarding the issues of interference that arise during the process of emergency medical activities, including the 119 First Aid system, are necessary. The solution to these problems is to establish and improve the conditions for obstruction of first aid activities, focusing on the "Framework Act on Firefighting" and the "Act on 119 Rescue and Emergency."

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.211-216
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• 2010

Fire service personnel and ambulance paramedics suffer musculoskeletal disorders as they lift and carry patients while performing Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The objective of the current study was performed to examine the association between working environment and musculoskeletal disorders of 119 paramedics and to analysis the EMS activities for them through basic survey (including task characteristics, risk factors, symptoms and illnesses). Observational job analysis of EMS activities indicated the squatting posture during first-aid performed on floor and the abrupt use of force during carrying heavy load including stretcher with patients on as hazard factors, and excessive low back twisting and bending during stairway transfer was observed. In addition, work-physiological assessment revealed various but rather high lumbar muscle usage rate among the study subjects, being 14.6~32.8% compared with Maximum Voluntary Contraction (MVC) during patients transfer work. Resting heart rate showed 65/min, on the other hand, heart rate on mobilization indicated maximum 124~156/min. Therefore, the results of analysis to the EMS activities, rescuer activities and medical tasks were accompanied with high possibility of accident and musculoskeletal disorders. Also, EMS activities indicated high muscle fatigue and energy consumption, and accumulated muscle fatigue with during continued work.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.135-141
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• 2017

Recently, as elderly people suffering from chronic diseases have increased and disasters such as traffic accidents have increased, urgent rescue workers and doctors need to respond effectively to such emergencies. For elderly people, the difficulty in communicating their condition especially the health condition during disaster is one of the problems in which delay on immediate handling by rescue team can cause death. Providing a solution for this problem is one of the main issues in our research. In this paper, we use the QR code to communicate the minimum personal information and medical history needed for emergency medical treatment to emergency medical personnel, and to transmit the medical history and treatment data to the doctors of the hospital through QR code and fingerprint recognition, respectively. Especially, by using both QR code of smart phone and fingerprint of individual, we can protects personal information and strengthens privacy and security of medical information by allowing only authorized physicians to check medical records of the old patient.