• Clinical and Experimental Emergency Medicine
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.286-287
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• 2018

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.188-191
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• 2006

Tricuspid regurgitation after blunt chest trauma is rarely seen in the emergency department. A 19-year-old patient visited our emergency department with chest discomfort after collision with his brother while skiing. Recently, Skiing as a winter sports has become popular with the Korean people, so there is an increasing tendency for patients with diverse traumas associated with ski accidents to visit the emergency department. From simple abrasions or contusions to deadly injuries with unstable vital signs, we are seeing many kind of injuries in the emergency department. We present the case report of a patient with tricuspid regurgitation after a blunt chest trauma during the skiing.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.51-60
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• 2010

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate toxic exposures in emergency centers with using a toxic exposure surveillance system-based report form as a preliminary study. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of toxic exposure patients who visited emergency centers from January to December 2008. Results: 3,157 patients from 11 emergency centers were enrolled. Males were involved in 47.9% of the total cases of exposure and in 60.1% of the cases of fatal exposure. Suicidal intent was the most common (61.0%) reason and most (87.4%) fatal exposures were suicidal. Pesticides were involved in 30.7% of the cases and sedative/hypnotics/antipsychotics were involved in 20.5%. The substances most frequently involved in fatalities were pesticides, and a 48.4% fatality rate was recorded for paraquat exposure. Conclusion: The toxic exposure data showed the preliminary poisoning events in emergency centers. It is recommended that toxicology professionals should develop a toxic surveillance system and serial reporting should be performed.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.595-602
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• 2018

Objective: The Korean Triage and Acuity Scale (KTAS), which was implemented in 2016, needs to be assessed for its validity and reliability. Here we evaluate the relevance of emergency level assessment by analyzing the validity of KTAS as a Korean standardized triage system. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of adults who presented to a local emergency room (ER) during an 18-month period. We compared medical resources used, life-saving interventions performed, length of stay (LOS) in ER, admission rate, and mortality at each KTAS level. Results: Among a total of 40,339 patients, most patients were at KTAS 4 (n=19,532, 48.4%) and the longest median LOS in ER was 450 minutes at KTAS 2. As the KTAS level increased, the percentage of medical resources used and lifesaving interventions performed increased significantly. The odds of total admission and intensive care unit admission were significantly higher at KTAS 1 through 4 compared to those at KTAS 5. The odds related to admission and mortality were also significantly higher at KTAS 3 than at KTAS 4. Conclusion: We concluded that the KTAS, as a Korean standardized triage system of emergency level assessment, is relevant. Further, KTAS 1-3 and KTAS 4-5 are appropriate criteria to distinguish emergency and non-emergency patients.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.557-567
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• 2018

Objective: The increasing number of people living in high-rise apartments may result in a delayed response from emergency medical technicians called out for an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, making the role of apartment managers as the first responders extremely important. This study investigated whether automated external defibrillator (AED) placement influences the willingness of apartment managers to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and use an AED. Methods: A cross-sectional target population-based survey was conducted in Daegu, July 2016. Questionnaires were sent to apartment managers working in apartments with more than 500 households. The general characteristics of the respondents, status of CPR education, and knowledge about and willingness to perform CPR and use an AED were investigated. Results: Of the 1,445 respondents, 758 (52.5%) worked in apartments with AEDs, of which 77.8% and 70.8% were willing to perform CPR and use an AED, respectively, compared with 68.1% and 60.0% of respondents who worked in apartments without AEDs. After adjusting for potential confounders, AED placement was associated with the willingness to perform CPR (odds ratio [OR], 1.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-1.71) and use an AED (OR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.10-1.75). Prior CPR training and accurate knowledge of CPR skills were also associated with the willingness to perform CPR and use an AED. Conclusion: Placing AEDs in high-rise apartment buildings and providing refresher CPR education for maintaining CPR skills will be necessary to support apartment managers in their role as first responders.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.154-162
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• 2018

Objectives: Early retirement occurs when one's job satisfaction suffers due to employment mismatch resulting from factors such as inadequate compensation. Medical doctors report high levels of job stress and burnout relative to other professionals. These levels are highest among emergency physicians (EPs), and despite general improvements in their working conditions, early retirement continues to become more common in this population. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors influencing EPs intention to retire early and to develop a probability equation for its prediction. Methods: A secondary analysis of data from the 2015 Korean Society of Emergency Physicians Survey was performed. The variables potentially influencing early retirement were organized into personal characteristics, extrinsic factors, and intrinsic factors. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors and to develop a probability equation; these findings were then arranged in a nomogram. Results: Of the 377 survey respondents included in the analysis, 48.0% intended to retire early. Risk factors for early retirement included level of satisfaction with the specialty and its outlook, slanderous reviews, emergency room safety, health status, workload intensity, age, and hospital type. Intrinsic factors (i.e., slanderous reviews and satisfaction with the specialty and its outlook) had a stronger influence on early retirement than did extrinsic factors. Conclusions: To promote career longevity among EPs, it is vital to improve emergency room safety and workload intensity, to enhance medical professionalism through a stronger vision of emergency medicine, and to strengthen the patient-doctor relationship.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.92-98
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• 2002

Emergency medicine(EM) is the specialty of evaluating, stabilizing and initiating treatment for patients with life or limb-threatening illnesses or injuries. Techniques unique to the specialty of EM are the triage systems, quick stabilization methods, and emergency surgery procedures. The field of EM encompasses areas such as emergency department management, disaster planning and management, the management of emergency medical service(EMS) systems, research into such areas as brain and heart resuscitation, trauma and disaster management, survival medicine, and environmental emergencies(cold and heat injuries, poisioning, decompression sickness and barotrauma). Today, in addition to providing emergency care, the emergency specialists have moral and legal obligations to assess and report probable cases of child and spouse abuse, sexual assault, and alcohol and drug abuse. Future, the EM should provide surveillance, identification, intervention, and evaluation of injury and disease, therefore EM will remain as a key component of evolving community health care system.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.230-240
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• 2012

Purpose: We aimed to compare the transport time, the proportion of direct hospital visit and the emergency procedures between the current mountain rescue helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) and physician-staffed mountain-rescue HEMS. Methods: During weekends from October 2, to November 21, 2010, 9 emergency physicians participated as HEMS staff in the mountain-rescue HEMS program of the Seoul fire department. Patient demographic data, transport time, proportion of direct hospital visits, and emergency procedures were recorded. We also collected data on HEMS mountain-rescued patients from June 1, to September 1, 2010, and we compared them to those for the study patients. After an eight-week trial of the HEMS, we performed a delphi survey to determine the attitude of the physician staff, as well as the feasibility of using a physician staff. Results: Twenty-four(24) patients were rescued from mountains by physician-staffed HEMS during the study period, and 35 patients were rescued during the pre-study period. Patient demographic findings were not statistically different between the two groups, but the transport time and the emergency procedures were. During the study period, the time from call to take-off was $6.1{\pm}4.1min$ (vs. $12.1{\pm}8.9min$ during the pre-study period, p-value=0.001), and the time from call to arrival at the scene was $15.0{\pm}4.8min$ (vs. $22.3{\pm}8.1min$ during the pre-study period, p-value=0.0001). The proportions of direct hospital visit were not different between the two groups, but more aggressive emergency procedures were implemented in the study group. The delphi survey showed positive agreement on indications for HEMS, rapidity of transport and overall satisfaction. Conclusion: A pilot trial of physician-staffed HEMS for mountain rescue showed rapid response and more aggressive performance of emergency procedures with high satisfaction among the attending physicians.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.551-556
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• 2018

Cases of repeated acute gastric dilatations after binge eating in one patient are rarely reported. We report here a case of repeated acute gastric dilatations in a 22-year-old woman with bulimia nervosa. Her repeated acute gastric dilatations seem to have been related to superior mesenteric artery syndrome. On her last visit due to acute gastric dilatation, she underwent emergency gastric decompression surgery because of abdominal compartment syndrome; however, she eventually died because of ischemia reperfusion injury. Emergency physicians should be aware of the need to manage acute gastric dilatation in patients with eating disorder and should pay attention to the signs and distinctive clinical features of abdominal compartment syndrome.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.22-32
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the occurrence of toxic exposure cases in Korean emergency centers using a toxic exposure surveillance system-based report form and to provide guidelines for the prevention and treatment of toxic exposures. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of toxic exposure patients who had visited emergency centers from January 2009 to December 2009. Epidemiology data points for the toxic exposure cases included age, gender, type of exposure, number and kind of substances involved, reason and route of poison exposure, management of the patients in the emergency departments, and the clinical outcome. Results: A total of 3,501 patients from 12 emergency departments were enrolled in the study. 50.0% of the total exposure patients were male and 63.0% of the total cases were fatal. Acute intoxication occurred in 91.3% of the total patients and suicidal intent was the most common (43.3%) reason for exposure. The most common route of exposure was ingestion (75.9%). Of the total cases, pesticides were involved in 26.3%, sedatives/hypnotics/antipsychotics were involved in 22.0%, and bites and envenomations were involved in 15.7%. Conclusion: We provided a database of patients who were admitted to emergency departments after poisoning incidents. We recommend that toxicology professionals develop a classification scheme for toxicants which is adequate for Korean domestic circumstances and initiate a toxic surveillance system for all types of exposures. With support of a psychiatric surveillance system for suicidal patients and establishment of social mediation for pesticide poisoning, major reductions in poison exposures can be achieved.