• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.301-309
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• 2016

Background: A contamination screening process for the local population in radiation emergencies is discussed. Materials and Methods: We present an overview of the relevant Korean governmental regulations that underpin the development of an effective response system. Moreover, case studies of foreign countries responding to mass casualties are presented, and indicate that responses should be able to handle a large demand for contamination screening of the local public as well as screening of the immediate victims of the incident. Results and Discussion: We propose operating procedures for an off-site contamination screening post operated by the local government for members of the public who have not been directly harmed in the accident. In order to devise screening categories, sorting strategies assessing contamination and exposure are discussed, as well as a psychological response system. Conclusion: This study will lead to the effective operation of contamination screening clinics if an accident occurs. Furthermore, the role of contamination screening clinics in the overall context of the radiation emergency treatment system should be clearly established.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.99-115
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• 2015

Purpose: This study aimed to provide basic data for clinical training program development by analyzing the operating conditions and satisfaction in a clinical training program for 119 emergency medical technicians (EMTs) in South Korea. Methods: Data from 84 EMTs were collected on June 19, 2014. We administered a 64-item questionnaire about operating conditions and satisfaction in the clinical training program, and analyzed data (SPSS v 21.0). Results: The degree of performance in the field, importance of the item in the field, and level of difficulty were 3.36, 4.23, and 3.21, respectively. In the number of times that an item was directly performed according to the subjects' general characteristics a statistically difference in sex (p = .000), duty (p =.021), and total working time of trainees (p = .002). The subjects' total satisfaction score was 3.77. The difference in satisfaction according to the subjects' characteristics was a statistically significant in terms of sex (p = .016) and clinical training area (p = .005). Conclusion: A more efficient training system for hospital clinical training courses should be developed. The operation condition analyzed in this research may contribute to the improvement of the performance of EMTs.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.212-217
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• 2021

Various medical scenarios have arisen with the prolonged coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In particular, the increasing number of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients has prompted reports of emergency surgical experiences with these patients at regional trauma centers. In this report, we describe an example. A 25-year-old male was admitted to the emergency room after a traffic accident. The patient presented with stuporous mentality, and his vital signs were in the normal range. Lacerations were observed in the left eyebrow area and preauricular area, with hemotympanum in the right ear. Brain computed tomography showed a contusional hemorrhage in the right frontal area and an epidural hematoma in the right temporal area with a compound, comminuted fracture and depressed skull bone. Surgical treatment was planned, and the patient was intubated to prepare for surgery. A blood transfusion was prepared, and a central venous catheter was secured. The initial COVID-19 test administered upon presentation to the emergency room had a positive result, and a confirmatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test was administered. The PCR test confirmed a positive result. Emergency surgical treatment was performed because the patient's consciousness gradually deteriorated. The risk of infection was high due to the open and unclean wounds in the skull and brain. We prepared and divided the COVID-19 surgical team, including the patient's transportation team, anesthesia team, and surgical preparation team, for successful surgery without any transmission or morbidity. The patient recovered consciousness after the operation, received close monitoring, and did not show any deterioration due to COVID-19.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.6-15
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• 2010

Purpose: Trauma is one of the leading causes of death, especially among young people. Life-threatening conditions are very common in multiple-traumatized patients due to concurrent multi-organ injuries. Treating such severely injured patients is time critical. However, in Korea, the transfer of severely injured patients is not uncommon due to the lack of a mature trauma care system. In developed countries, the preventable trauma death rate is very low, but the rate is still very high in Korea. This study's objective was to demonstrate the current serious state in which severely injured patients have to be transferred from a Regional Emergency Medical Center even though it actually serves as a trauma center. Methods: Ajou University Medical Center is a tertiary hospital that serves as a trauma center in Gyeonggido. The medical records at Ajou University Medical Center for a 1-year period from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2008, were retrospectively reviewed. A severely injured patient was defined as a patient who showed more than 15 point on the ISS (injury severity score) scale. We investigated the clinical characteristics of such patients and the causes of transfer. Results: Out of 81,718 patients who visited the Regional Emergency Medical Center, 19,731 (24.1%) were injured patients. Among them, 108 severely-injured patients were transferred from one Regional Emergency Medical Center to other hospitals. The male-to-female ratio was about 3.5:1, and the mean ISS was 23.08. The most common mechanism of injury was traffic accidents (41.7%). A major cause of transfer was the shortage of intensive care units (44.4%); another was for emergent operation (27.8%). Most of the hospitals that received the severely-injured patients were secondary hospitals (86.1%). Conclusion: Although the Regional Emergency Medical Center played a role as a trauma center, actually, severely-injured patients had to be transferred to other hospitals for several reasons. Most reasons were related with the deficiencies in the trauma care system. If a mature trauma care system is well-organized, the numbers of transfer of severely injured patients will be reduced significantly.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 2013

Purpose: Antidotes for toxicological emergencies can be life-saving. However, there is no nationwide stocking and delivery system for emergency antidotes in Korea. We report on a two-year experience of a nationwide stocking and delivery trial for emergency antidotes at emergency departments in Korea. Methods: An expert panel of clinical toxicologists reviewed and made a list of 15 stocked antidote. These antidotes were purchased or imported from other countries and delivered from 14 antidote stocking hospitals nationwide 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Results: From August 1, 2011 to April 30, 2013, 177 patients with acute poisoning, with a median age of 48.5 years, were administered emergency antidotes. The causes of poisoning were intentional in 52.0% and 88.0% were intentional as a suicide attempt. Regarding clinical severity, using the poisoning severity score, 40.7% of patients had severe to fatal poisoning and 39.0% had moderate poisoning according to clinical severity. The most frequent presenting symptom was neurologic deficit, such as altered mentality (62.7%). alerted mentality (62.7%). Emergency antidotes were administered as follows: methylene blue (49 cases), flumazenil (31), N-acetylcysteine (25), glucagon (17), 100% ethanol (15), cyanide antidote kit (12), anti-venin immunoglobulin (5), pyridoxine (4), hydroxocobalamine (2), and deferoxamine (1). The median time interval from antidote request to delivery at the patient's bedside was 95 minutes (interquartile range 58.8-125.8). Conclusion: Findings of this study demonstrated the possibility of successful operation of the nationwide system of emergency antidotes stocking and delivery in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Society of Disaster and Security
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2016

The disasters in Korea, such as the Sewol Ferry Ship sinking disaster has had problems related to the medical response system, with the problems of emergency medical support team in the site, the cooperation between medical staff and fire department officer at disaster site, field medical support and hospital acceptance of the wounded in trouble, the lack of specific systematic medical response manual. Therefore, from May 2014, when the disaster emergency information center in Central Emergency Medical Center starts, collection, modification and education of scattered preexisting disaster emergency medical manual had appeared as important issues. So, it was necessary to develop the early medical response system to disaster. The correction planning of disaster emergency medical response system by Central Emergency Medical Center included quick response system with the fast medical team operation, but the practical application was not enough. So the researcher and his team developed the first Korean disaster emergency medical response manual and the process of development was documented and arranged with the application by education and training.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.91-97
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• 2015

Purpose: Occult hip fracture is not evident on radiographs and the diagnosis is often missed or delayed. This study was undertaken in order to identify the clinical characteristics and complications of patients with a delayed diagnosis of an occult hip fracture. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients with occult hip fracture who had normal findings on initial radiographs, the diagnosis was made on additional studies between August 2006 and February 2012. Patients who were diagnosed as having occult hip fractures at the first visit were categorized as non-delayed group and those who were not diagnosed at the first visit were categorized as delayed group. Results: Non-delayed group included 43 patients (86%). In the remaining 7 patients (delayed group), the diagnosis was delayed by a mean of 9.6 days (range 3~19 days). Patients who were diagnosed with an occult fracture on the initial visit presented later than those with a delayed diagnosis (41/43 .vs. 3/7, p=0.002). Other clinical features were no difference between the two groups. Patients in the delayed diagnosis group were more likely to have fracture displacement (4/7 .vs. 0/43)15patients in non-delayed group (34.9%) needed operative treatment, whereas all delayed patients (100%) needed operative treatment. Conclusion: A delayed diagnosis of occult hip fractures was associated with increased rate of displacement and operation. In patients suspected of having occult hip fractures, additional studies should be recommended.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.633-637
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• 2007

Bimodal Tram is the newly developed vehicle for both the tracked way and the public road. Its operation system has some characteristics including BIS(bus information system)/BMS(bus management system) based on ITS(intelligent Transportation system) which is used presently in public transportation operation system. One of them is more accurate vehicle fleet control based on both magnetic maker position reference system and GPS(global positioning system) and the other is automatic vehicle control for emergency situations by the Bimodal Tram operation system which will be performed by the unified control and operation center. This paper has investigated the requirements and functional definitions necessary to construct the unified control and operation center for Bimodal Tram operation system which will be more efficient and secure public transportation system than the conventional ones.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.25-32
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• 2017

Purpose: The use of computed tomography (CT) to evaluate acute abdominal complaints has increased over the past two decades. We investigated how the clinical practice of patients with intestinal perforation has changed with the increasing use of abdominal CT in the emergency department (ED). Methods: We compared ED arrival to CT time, ED arrival to surgical consultation time, and ED arrival to operation time according to the method of diagnosis from 2003-2004 and 2013-2014. Results: In patients with gastrointestinal perforation, time from ED arrival to CT was shorter ($111.4{\pm}66.2min$ vs. $199.0{\pm}97.5min$, p=0.001) but time to surgical consultation was longer ($135.1{\pm}78.8$ vs. $77.9{\pm}123.7$, p=0.006) in 2013-2014 than in 2003-2004. There was no statistically significant difference in time to operation for perforation confirmed either by plain film or CT between the two time periods. There was no statistically significant difference in length of hospital or ICU stay or mortality between the two groups. Conclusion: With the increasing use of abdominal CT in ED, ED arrival to CT time has decreased and ED arrival to surgical consultation time has increased in gastrointestinal perforation. These changes of clinical performance do not delay ED arrival to operation time or adversely influence patient outcome.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.47-60
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• 2013

Purpose: This study examines construction core plans for the users of vertical-typed general hospitals to effectivly use the flow line. Methods: The study sampled representative 9 hospitals, calculated the depth value through Convex Map of Space Syntax and Justified Graph according to the determination of form of construction cire, and analyzed its functional connectivity. Results: The analysis of the connectivity between operation core part and emergency part of core space with high importance in the hospitals showed that the types of hospital and hospital have the lowest depth value in the spatial phase diagram, where central treatment part and outpatient part are arranged well vertically. Elevators for patients at these hospitals are close to operation and emergency parts actually separated from the elevators for passengers. For shortening of flow line of patients and private movement environment, however, it is desirable to arrange the elevators for patients to be adjacent to the operation parts and to arrange the emergent patient entrances more effectively to separate them from the flow line of visitors and guardians. Implications: Consideration should be taken into account for the effective flow line design. This study hopefully may serve as a stepping stone for the standard design of horizontal/vertical flow line.