• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.191-204
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• 2007

This study analyzes use and operation of silver ambulance with 110 patients who had used silver ambulance in Gwangju and Jeonnam regions from June of 2006 to June of 2007 and 53 paramedics who are involved directly in ambulance operation and the results of this analysis are as follows. 1. Users' health conditions, 69.1% of users answered as bad and 67.3% suffered from chronic diseases over 3 months and it was found that they used silver ambulance due to their bad health conditions. 2. Cronbach's alpha was 0.630 and family function index was generally reliable and solution was high as 1.60, but total points were low as 7.11 and it was considered that they had family troubles. 3. On the question of ambulance use, 44.5% answered they used it because it is free, 53.6% used it for appointed medical examination and treatment and 18.1% used it for emergency. 4. Degrees of satisfaction with ambulance and paramedics were 95.4% and 76.4% respectively and 80.0% of ambulance users answered ambulance arrived quickly within 15 min. 5. Correlation($x^2 $) between family or relative's residence and frequency of visits was 86.367 and its significance probability was 0.00 and it was found that it was significant in the level of 0.1%, but correlation($x^2 $) between visitors other than family or relatives and frequency of visits was 14.768 and its significance probability was 0.25 and it was found that it was not significant in the level of 5%. 6. Correlation($x^2 $) between transfer operation speed and mobilization time was found that it was not significant in the level of 5%. Correlation($x^2 $) between their own health condition purpose of ambulance use was 13.802 an 5.696 and its significance probability was 0.93 and it was found that it was not significant in the level of 1%, and it was considered because paramedics carried patients with safe operation.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.129-135
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• 2008

Purpose : This study was to analyze the demand for emergency ambulance service and to characterize the factors associated with the demand. Method : The basis for the model was from the actual demand for public emergency ambulance and socioeconomic and geographic characteristics. Multiple regression analyses were done for the related characteristics of public ambulance service. Result : The model explained total demand with a high degree of accuracy : the coefficient of determination($R^2=0.96$). For the regression, the set of variables indicative of low socioeconomic status were all significant. It showed the inappropriate use of public ambulance system. Public ambulance demand increased in higher housing density, low income, male unemployment and female labor force. Conclusion : The demand for public ambulances appeared to be highly predictable, using a simple linear model employing socioeconomic variables, quality of service variables, and land use variables. Low-income families tended, to use the public ambulance system more often than higher income. Area having elderly people or children also made many calls. Estimated demand calls were stable and had a tendency to be similar incident types.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.177-187
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate the causes of non-transport in 119 ambulance services and to describe the difference in response time according to the reason for non-transport. Methods: This study analyzed 42,415 non-transport cases out of 123,158 cases using prehospital care reports in a metropolitan city. The Kruskal-Wallis test and the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test were used to 6,857 cases for which time was recorded. Results: Non-transportation in 20${\bigcirc}{\bigcirc}$ comprised 33.1% of all ambulance services. The reason for non-transport were other reasons (25.5%), cancellation (23.8%), and moving to other vehicles (21.7%). There were differences in ambulance service times according to the reasons for non-transport. The activation interval was the longest (2.68 minutes) in the absence of the patient, and the response interval was the shortest (4.96 minutes) among the cancelled case. The total interval was the shortest time (21.97 minutes) in the cancellation cases and the longest time among the death cases (32.23 minutes). Conclusion: It is important to suggest the direction of development of emergency services by identifying the reasons for non-transport by ambulance services and describing the response time according to the reason for non-transport.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.7-18
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• 2021

Purpose: This study aimed to present the learning items of indirect practice as an alternative means of ambulance riding practice. Methods: Twelve on-site professionals participated in testing the effectiveness of learning items of utility value in indirect experience practice among the recommended learning objectives of ambulance ride practice using the modified Delphi technique. To validate the learning objectives, the Delphi technique was used to check content validity, and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) analysis was used to analyze the weighting value. Results: As the learning goal of indirect experience practice replaced the ambulance riding practice, four items were derived in consideration of practicality. These items were consistent with the Delphi panel's consistency index, convergence, and agreement. The first learning item to consider was 'Prevention of infection and risk of infection.' Conclusion: The results of this study are meaningful in that they propose the learning items that can achieve the minimum educational goal through indirect experience practice as an alternative means of ambulance training.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.67-76
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of chest compressions and ventilation when using an mechanical device(LUCAS) and 2-men manual cardiopulmonary resuscitation(CPR) performed on a minikin, as well as to propose a more effective CPR method during transit. Methods: Data were collected by LUCAS and manual virtual reality based ambulance simulation. Analysis was performed using SPSS software 12.0. The average and standard deviation of chest compression depth and ventilation were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test. Results: In the virtual reality based LUCAS and manual CPR results, LUCAS showed better chest compression and lower incomplete chest release than manual CPR. During CPR with a chest compression-ventilation ratio of 30:2 in virtual reality ventilation with bag-valve mask was able to deliver an adequate volume of breathing. Conclusion: It is suggested that rescuers on ambulance may consider using LUCAS as an alternative to high-quality chest compression during transit.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.21-35
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• 2016

Purpose: This study aims to investigate awareness and performance of infection control during ambulance attendant training, and to provide basic data for infection control. Methods: The subjects were 235 paramedic students who completed ambulance attendant training. There were 51 questions. The infection control dimension was divided into hand washing, personal protective equipment use, and environmental management, for each sub-dimension, awareness and performance were measured by a 4-point scale. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS statistics ver. 22.0. Results: A total of 95.3%, of the subjects completed an orientation for ambulance attendant training and 71.7% received education on infection. In all three sub-dimensions, hand- washing (p<.001), personal protective equipment use (p<.001), and environmental management (p<.001), awareness scored higher than performance. The awareness of infection control showed a significantly positive correlation (r=.394) with performance. Conclusion: In order to improve performance of infection control, education to improve awareness should be provided, and paramedics with higher performance levels in hand washing, and use of gloves and masks wearing should be assigned as training advisors.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.125-134
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• 2019

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of video communication with medical staff located at a remote location, through a communication application connected to a long term evolution (LTE) mobile communication network in a moving ambulance. Methods: In this study, we recruited patients who were transferred by mobile intensive care unit ambulance from one hospital to another. In the moving ambulance, the information of the patient was transferred to a physician using the application in real time. Recorded video files were evaluated by emergency physicians with experience in video direct medical control. Results: A total of 18 patients were evaluated, and the average score was 5.9 out of a possible 9. It was expected that applying the use of the technology to actual clinical sites would enable the sites to provide assistance. Conclusion: In this study, we confirmed the possibility of benefiting from the clinical field when using the video-audio communication application which is connected to the remote location in real time through the current LTE mobile communication network in the ambulance.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.9-20
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• 2013

Purpose: This research project addressed the need to designing more safe and efficient interior of the future ambulance in Korea. Methods: The study sample contained 760 paramedics in 4 districts. Data was collected by using a revised and complemented questionnaire based on literature review. Results: In relation to the efficacy and safety of work, answers related to storage closet showed to be the highest, and the most difficult part of paramedic work in an ambulance was lurching. CPR is the most frequently used emergency care inside an ambulance, but 66% of the paramedics responded that accurate CPR is not possible during vehicle transfer. Safety belts are not worn for 82.8% of the time, because of discomfort (51.3%). 13.8% of the paramedics responded that stretchers are unstable, 29.5% had an experience of having patients fall off the stretcher inside an ambulance. There were comments on installing equipments to prevent noise, and assist communication. Conclusion: The suggested practical layout contains five main modifications 1. Developing specially designed belt is needed for paramedic safety & efficient work. 2. The seats are molded to be ergonomically friendly. 3. Equipments to secure the body and safety devices for CPR are needed. 4. System improvement for communication between the driver seat and paramedics is needed. 5. The stretchers are molded to be maximize efficiency and minimize injury.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.145-156
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• 2021

Purpose: Despite the fact that emergency medical centers (ED) are used by emergency patients, more than 50% of non-emergency patients have been reported to be admitted in EDs, of which more than 10% of them used the 119 ambulance. Therefore, this study investigated whether there was a change in the severity of patients visiting EDs during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This was a retrospective study of patients who visited the ED through the 119 ambulance in 2019 (13,735) and 2020 (11,015). Patient data were analyzed using the medical information system. Results: There was an increase in non-emergency patients at the emergency departments (KTAS levels 4-5) in 2020 with a rate of 58.0% (6,393), as compared to the 2019 data with a rate of 44.9% (6,169). However, the 2020 median length of stay in the emergency department was 188 minutes (IQR: 0-5,909minutes) (p=.000), which was decreased as compared to the 2019 median length of stay of 231 minutes (IQR: 5-6,211minutes) (p=.003). Conclusion: Providing emergency ambulance guidelines for selecting proper hospitals and educating patients to refrain from using the ED for non-emergency patients should be taken into consideration to prevent overcrowding and construct a more effective emergency medical system (EMS).

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.9 no.11
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• pp.227-233
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the quality of chest compression by conducting comparison research between mechanical chest compressor(LUCAS) and manuale cardiopulmonary resuscitation(CPR) in a out-of-hospital environment and suggest effective advanced cardiac life support using mechanical chest compressors. For this, a out-of-hospital cardiac arrest was simulated with a team of 3 ambulance workers, and manuale CPR and CPR using LUCAS were performed on site and during transport in an ambulance. The research results are as follows: the comparison of manuale CPR between on site and in an ambulance revealed that on-site manuale CPR showed significant differences in the average compression depth, compression rate, and relaxation rate. Second, the comparison between manuale CPR and LUCAS in an ambulance showed significant differences in the average compression depth, compression rate, the number of compression per minute.