• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.94-102
• /
• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine triage nurses' the Korean triage and acuity scale(KTAS) performance ability, perception of importance, education needs and identify the factors influencing triage nurses' the KTAS performance ability. Methods: A descriptive correlational study was conducted among 146 emergency nurses working in 13 hospitals from March to May, 2017. Data were collected utilizing a questionnaire developed to measure performance ability, perception of importance, and educational needs of 192 items of the KTAS. Statistical analysis included t-test, analysis of variance, correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. Results: The triage nurses' the KTAS performance ability was rated as 3.3/4.0 points, perception of importance as 3.2/4.0 points, and education needs as 3.1/4.0 points. Factors influencing the KTAS performance of the participants were perception of importance, education needs, and work experience at the emergency department, explaining 26.7% of total variance. Conclusion: The KTAS performance ability of triage nurses could be improved through training programs designed to enhance their perception of importance and provide knowledge about the KTAS. Nurses' emergency department work experience needs to be considered as an important factor for the KTAS performance ability.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.75-85
• /
• 2018

Purpose: This study examined the Poisoning Severity Score (PSS) from acute poisoning patients, to determine the relationships among the PSS, PSSsum, the primary outcome (prolonged stay at the ER over 24 hours, general ward and ICU admission and the application of intubation and mechanical ventilator, and the administration of inotropes). Methods: A retrospective study was conducted through the EMR for 15 months. The PSS grade was classified according to the evidence of symptoms and signs. The differences in the primary outcomes between the PSS of when a single organ was damaged, and the PSS, PSSsum combined with the grade of when multiple organs were damaged, were studied. The cutoff value was calculated using the receiving operating characteristics (ROC) curve. Results: Of the 284 patients; 85 (29.9%) were men with a mean age of 48.8 years, and their average arrival time to the ER was $4.4{\pm}6.7\;hours$. The most frequently used drug was hypnotics. The number of patients with PSS grade 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 was 17, 129, 122, 24, and one, respectively. No ICU admissions, application of intubation and mechanical ventilators, administration of inotropes were observed among the patients with PSS grades 0 and 1 but only on patients with PSS grades 2 to 4. At PSS, when separating the patients according to the number of damaged organs, 17 had no symptoms, 133 had one organ damaged, 75 had two organs damaged, 36 had three organs damaged, and 23 had four organs damaged. Significant differences were observed between increasing number of damaged organs and the primary outcome. Conclusion: Among the acute poisoning patients, the PSS was higher in severity when the grade was higher. The number of damaged organs and the primary outcome showed meaningful statistical differences. This study confirmed that when the patients' PSS>2 and PSSsum>5, the frequency of ICU admission was higher, and they were considered to be severe with an increased prescription risk of application of intubation and mechanical ventilator, and the administration of inotropes.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.61-71
• /
• 2012

Purpose: The aim of this study was to measure the inter-rater reliability of Emergency severity index (ESI) version 4 among triage nurse. Methods: This study was carried out from August 11, 2010 to September 7, 2010 in a regional emergency department. Data collection was done by ten triage nurses who trained ESI v.4. Two research nurses and ten triage nurses scored the ESI version 4 to the patients as references, independently. We calculated the weighted kappa between the triage nurses and research nurses to evaluate the consistency of the ESI v.4. Results: A total of 233 patients were enrolled in this study. Classification of ESI level was as follows - level 1 (0.4%), level 2 (21.0%), level 3 (67.8%), level 4 (9.4%), and level 5 (1.3%). Inter-rater reliability by weighted kappa was 0.79 (95% Confidence Interval= 0.74-0.83) and agreement rate was 87.1%. Under-triage rate by triage nurse was 6.0% and over-triage rate was 6.9%. Conclusion: For this study, inter-rater reliability was measured good level between triage nurses and research nurses in Korean single ED.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2021

This study was to investigate the types of emergencies transported by the Southwestern Coast Guard, the need for telemedicine guidance, and the perception and attitude of smart glasses as a communication method targeting 31 coast guards. A relatively high frequency and training requirement were confirmed for bleeding, abrasion, and abdominal pain. The demand for telemedicine guidance on medication and triage was higher, and the perceived usefulness and attitude scores for the use of smart glasses were 3.76±0.61 and 3.64±0.45, respectively. A moderate correlation between perceived usefulness and attitude toward smart glasses was confirmed (r=.630, p<.01). With the development of technology, it is time to actively introduce new devices such as smart glasses.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.1863-1870
• /
• 2013

The purpose of this study is when the cases will be found, used as a basic data for clinical severity prediction, and research on suicide prevention. By classifying the group of survival and death about the patients who visit the Emergency Medical Center by attempt suicide by drug addiction, identifying the condition when visiting and results of the treatment after visiting. From June 2009 to May 2011, last two years data that among the drug abusers who visited the Emergency Medical Center in C-University Hospital in Gwang-Ju, only suicidal patients, except with unintentional accidents were collected. The findings, among the drug addiction patients who high age, lower level of education and living alone were the mortality rate was higher. And if who drunk the agricultural chemicals, the convalescence was not good. If the causes of suicide were economic problems and depression, the mortality rate was higher. And when visit hospital, if the consciousness was stupor and semi-coma/coma, the convalescence was not good. As grasp the risk for suicide patients of drug addiction, help on the Prediction of clinical severity, also stamp the appropriate drug education with psychological support is more important on them.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.107-116
• /
• 2020

Purpose: This study was a prospective survey to evaluate the Korean Triage and Acuity Scale (KTAS) inter-rater reliability and to identify discordant areas in the KTAS classification between nurses and paramedics in emergency department (ED). Methods: Inter-rater reliability were evaluated using triage deta from January 11 to May 31, 2019. A convinience sample of a total of 800 patients who visited an emergnecy medical center in Incheon (400 adult and 400 pediatric patients in this study) were selected. The triages of this study a pair of one nurse and one paramedic performed triage at the same time, using the KTAS, Inter-rater reliability for the KTAS was evaluated with the weighted kappa. Results: The inter-rater reliability of the KTAS evaluated by weighted Kappa between nurse-paramedic KTAS score of adult patients was .71, and .66 for pediatric patients. Both were in the level considered as substantial. Among causes of triage discordance, the most frequently identified discordant item in triaging adults was the difference in the measurement of pain intensity (28.0%). For both adult and pediatric patients, multiple chief complaint was identified as the major discordant factor. In triaging pediatric patients the body temperature assessment by subjective judgments was the highest discordant item (50.7%). Conclusion: The study result suggested that the KTAS demonstrated a reasonable level of inter-rater reliability and functioned as a standardized triage tool for emergency medical services. In order to improve the inter-rater reliability and classification competence, it is necessary to revise the current all-integrated KTAS provider course to be differentiated for each job group.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.49 no.1
• /
• pp.26-35
• /
• 2019

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify the predictive validity of the Korean Triage and Acuity Scale (KTAS). Methods: This methodological study used data from National Emergency Department Information System for 2016. The KTAS disposition and emergency treatment results for emergency patients aged 15 years and older were analyzed to evaluate its predictive validity through its sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value. Results: In case of death in the emergency department, or where the intensive care unit admission was considered an emergency, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the KTAS were 0.916, 0.581, 0.097, and 0.993, respectively. In case of death in the emergency department, or where the intensive or non-intensive care unit admission was considered an emergency, the sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 0.700, 0.642, 0.391, and 0.867, respectively. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the KTAS had high sensitivity but low specificity. It is necessary to constantly review and revise the KTAS level classification because it still results in a few errors of under and over-triage. Nevertheless, this study is meaningful in that it was an evaluation of the KTAS for the total cases of adult patients who sought help at regional and local emergency medical centers in 2016.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.51-66
• /
• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether, in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), according to the mode of arrival affect the emergency medical process. Methods: The participants of this study were 118 adult patients (46 patients admitted by emergency medical services (EMS), 48 walk-in patients, and 24 transferred from other hospitals) admitted to the emergency departments at one regional-level medical center who underwent coronary angiography between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2017. To compare treatment courses, the median values of the following variables were compared among groups: symptom to door time; door to triage time; and door to ECG time. All data were analyzed using SPSS program. Results: Based on the initial assessment at triage, there was a significantly greater proportion of Korean Triage and Acuity Stage (KTAS) Level 1 or 2 among patients admitted by EMS than among walk-in patients. All three analyzed variables were lower in patients admitted by EMS than in the other two groups. Conclusion: Our results show that ACS patients who accessed EMS reached the emergency center faster after symptom onset, received initial triage assessment at earlier stages, and underwent sooner important examinations (i.e., the 12-lead ECG).

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.151-166
• /
• 2022

Purpose: The severity classification in association with the time of visit to and the appropriateness of using a public ambulance for visiting the emergency department (ED) have not been thoroughly evaluated, and we aimed to evaluate these aspects. Methods: In this descriptive research, we retrospectively reviewed and analyzed the medical records of patients who visited the ED of the B General Hospital, Seoul from January to December 2019. Results: Of the 54,297 patients who were included in the analysis, 34,629 (63.8%) and 14,065 (25.9%) visited the ED directly and through public ambulances, respectively; 10,328 (73.4%) patients who used public ambulances were discharged home. In the daytime and nighttime, 24,891 (45.8%) and 29,406 (54.2%), respectively, visited the ED. The mean length of ED stay (LoS) of emergency and non-emergency patients was 326 and 159 minutes, respectively, and of patients classified as Korean Triage and Acuity Scale levels 1 and 2 was 427 and 430 minutes, respectively, which was longer than the total of 236 minutes. Conclusion: Patients who visited the ED using public ambulances constituted nearly 25% of all ED visits, and more than 70% of these patients were discharged home. Patients with high severity had a longer mean LoS, and daytime ED visits were characterized by higher numbers and severity of patients than nighttime ED visits.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.482-492
• /
• 2016

Purpose This study is to investigate regional characteristics of 119 ambulance dispatch and the relationship between the distance and response time to the scene. Methods This study was retrospectively conducted 119 running sheets with 1,321 patients who had been transferred to the hospital by 119 ambulance during ambulance attendant training. The training was performed at two, five and three fire station in Seoul, Daejeon and Chungnam respectively, from June 24, 2013 to July 19, 2014. Results Almost the emergency medical services provided were no more than basic first aid in all regions. The patients transferred by 119 ambulance in Seoul were more than other region. The time of call to scene and scene to hospital were the slowest in Chungnam. The major reason of call 119 was due to disease in Seoul and Daejeon, however due to injury in Chungnam. Conclusion Our study suggests that learning from ambulance attendant training course could diverse from region to region. It is, therefore, needed that standardization of ambulance attendant training course, appropriate logistics and resource allocation for providing universal quality of emergency medical services.