• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.172-179
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• 2023

Purpose: Out-of-hospital traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA) often has a poor prognosis despite rescue efforts. Although the incidence and mortality of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest have increased, bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has decreased in some countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the prehospital setting, immediate treatment of cardiac arrest is required without knowing the patient's COVID-19 status. Because COVID-19 is usually transmitted through the respiratory tract, airway management can put medical personnel at risk for infection. This study explored whether on-scene treatments involving CPR for TCA patients changed during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea. Methods: This retrospective study used data from emergency medical services (EMS) run sheets in Gangwon Province from January 2019 to December 2021. Patients whose initial problem was cardiac arrest and who received CPR were included. Data in 2019 were classified as pre-COVID-19 and all subsequent data (from 2020 and 2021) as post-COVID-19. Age, sex, possible cause of cardiac arrest, and treatments including airway maneuvers, oropharyngeal airway (OPA) or i-gel insertion, endotracheal intubation (ETI), bag-valve mask (BVM) ventilation, intravenous (IV) line establishment, neck collar application, and wound dressing with hemostasis were investigated. Results: During the study period, 2,007 patients received CPR, of whom 596 patients had TCA and 367 had disease-origin cardiac arrest (DCA). Among the patients with TCA, 192 (32.2%) were pre-COVID-19 and 404 (67.8%) were post-COVID-19. In the TCA group, prehospital treatments did not decrease. The average frequencies were 59.7% for airway maneuvers, 47.5% for OPA, 57.4% for BVM, and 51.3% for neck collar application. The rates of ETI, i-gel insertion, and IV-line establishment increased. The treatment rate for TCA was significantly higher than that for DCA. Conclusions: Prehospital treatments by EMS workers for patients with TCA did not decrease during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the rates of ETI, i-gel insertion, and IV-line establishment increased.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.156-162
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• 2024

Humanity has gone since a long time through several pandemics; we cite H1N1 in 2009 and also Spanish flu in 1917. In December 2019, the health authorities of China detected unexplained cases of pneumonia. The WHO (World Health Organization) has declared the apparition of Covid-19 (novel Coronavirus). In data analysis, multiple approaches and diverse techniques were used to extract useful information from multiple heterogeneous sources and to discover knowledge and new information for decision-making. In this paper, we propose a multidimensional model for analyzing the Coronavirus Covid-19 data (spread and vaccination in European countries).

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.14-21
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• 2022

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has been rampant since the end of 2019, has evidently affected pain management in clinical practice. Fortunately, a COVID-19 vaccination program is currently in progress worldwide. There is an ongoing discussion that pain management using steroid injections can decrease COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, although currently there is no direct evidence to support this statement. As such, the feeling of pain in patients is doubled in addition to the co-existing ill-effects of social isolation associated with the pandemic. Thus, in the COVID-19 era, it has become necessary that physicians be able to provide high quality pain management without negatively impacting COVID-19 vaccine efficacy. Steroids can alter the entire process involved in the generation of adaptive immunity after vaccination. The period of hypophysis-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression is known to be 1 to 4 weeks after steroid injection, and although the exact timing for peak efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines is slightly different for each vaccine, the average is approximately 2 weeks. It is suggested to avoid steroid injections for a total of 4 weeks (1 week before and after the two vaccine doses) for the double-shot vaccines, and for 2 weeks in total (1 week before and after vaccination) for a single-shot vaccine. This review focuses on the basic concepts of the various COVID-19 vaccines, the effect of steroid injections on vaccine efficacy, and suggestions regarding an appropriate interval between the administration of steroid injections and the COVID-19 vaccine.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.27-59
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• 2022

During the past two decades, the Southeast Asian region has experienced a range of major crises. Service industries such as tourism and the marginal and migrant laborers who work in them have usually been at the sharp end of these testing events, from natural and environmental disasters, epidemics and pandemics, global financial slumps, terrorism, and political conflict. The latest challenge is the "Novel Coronavirus" (Covid-19/SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. It has already had serious consequences for Southeast Asia and its tourism development and these will continue for the foreseeable future. Since the SARS epidemic of 2002-2004, Southeast Asian economies have become integrated increasingly into those of East Asia (China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong). This paper examines one of the most significant current crises, Covid-19, and its consequences for Southeast Asia, its tourism industry, and its workers, comparing experiences across the region, and the issues raised by the over-dependence of some countries on East Asia. In research on crises, the main focus has been on dramatic, unpredictable natural disasters, and human-generated global economic downturns. Not so much attention has been devoted to disease and contagion, which has both natural and socio-cultural dimensions in origins and effects, and which, in the case of Covid-19, evoke a pre-crisis period of normality, a liminal transition or "meantime" and a post-crisis "new normality." The transition is not straightforward; in many countries, it operates as a set of serial lockdowns and restrictions, and to predict an uncertain future remains difficult.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.343-353
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• 2023

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic led to significant changes in the lifestyle patterns of children and affected the patterns of pediatric injuries. This study analyzed the changing patterns of pediatric injury overall and by age groups, based on the datasets before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study is based on the data of patients who presented with injuries at 23 hospital emergency departments participating in the Emergency Department-based Injury In-depth Surveillance (EDIIS) conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The surveillance data was categorized by injury mechanism, location, activity, and severity. We analyzed the injury patterns of pediatric patients aged 0 to 15 years. Subgroup analysis was conducted by age group in children aged 7 to 15 years, 1 to 6 years, and <1 year. Results: When comparing the COVID-19 pandemic period to the pre-COVID-19 period, the total number of pediatric patients with injuries decreased by 38.7%, while the proportions of in-home injuries (57.9% vs. 67.9%), and minor injuries (38.9% vs. 39.7%) increased. In the 7 to 15 years group, bicycle riding injuries (50.9% vs. 65.6%) and personal mobility device injuries (2.4% vs. 4.6%) increased. The 1 to 6 years group also showed an increase in bicycle accident injuries (15.8% vs. 22.4%). In the <1 year group, injuries from falls increased (44.5% vs. 49.9%). Self-harm injuries in the 7 to 15 years group also increased (1.6% vs. 2.8%). Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic period, the overall number of pediatric injuries decreased, while injuries occurring at home and during indoor activities increased. Traffic accidents involving bicycles and personal mobility devices and self-harm injuries increased in the 7 to 15 years group. In the <1 year group, the incidence of falls increased. Medical and societal preparedness is needed so that we might anticipate these changes in the patterns of pediatric injuries during future infectious disease pandemics.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.74-79
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• 2020

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was first identified in Wuhan, China, in late December of 2019 is rapidly spreading across the globe. The South Korean government has ordered the closure of all schools, as part of its attempts to use social distancing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The effects of the school closures on reducing contagion are generally positive; however, the measure is controversial because of the socioeconomic ripple effect that accompanies it. The author briefly reviewed the existing literature on the mental health aspects of disasters and presents the issues related to school closures due to pandemics, from medical and socioeconomic perspectives and in terms of children's mental health. The results of this review suggest that research on children's mental health in relation to the adoption of school closures as a pandemic mitigation strategy is urgently needed.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.82-86
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• 2024

Purpose: This study examined the quality of life (QoL) and quality of care (QoC) in inpatient hospice settings in Korea before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: Data were obtained from three institutions that participated in two prospective cohort studies. The primary outcomes measured were the QoL of patients with terminal cancer and their family caregivers (FCs), as well as the QoC as perceived by the FCs. Results: Multivariable regression analysis revealed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, both patients and FCs experienced better QoL than before the pandemic, and FCs reported a higher QoC. Conclusion: Health policymakers should consider our findings when planning for future pandemics.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.1475-1487
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to understand the experience of nurses working in public health centers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify its essence. The subjects who had worked for more than one year during the period of COVID-19 pandemic in three county health centers in C province were selected as research participants and analyzed according to the phenomenological method proposed by Colaizzi. As a result of the study, three themes were derived: Negative feelings about COVID-19, A firm sense of professional calling, Leading the way in preparing a system to respond to new infectious diseases. Based on this, it was confirmed that it is necessary to strengthen psychological problem support for nurses, improve biased work, support professional manpower, support systematic education, and prepare appropriate compensation system. Therefore, based on the results of this study, active discussions should be made with various interests in order to establish a support system for nurses who are major personnel in the health care system and to prepare an effective infectious disease response strategy.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.85-98
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• 2020

Purpose: This study was conducted to confirm the nature of the pandemic experience of an infectious disease among non-confirmed COVID-19 nursing students. Methods: From April 14 to April 23, 2020, data were collected through individual in-depth interviews with eight nursing students, and the data were analyzed using Colaizzi's phenomenological analysis methodology. Results: Seven categories emerged through experiences of pandemic infectious diseases among nursing students. The specific categories are 'the continuation of daily life containing worries', 'struggle in daily life lost by COVID-19', 'conflict in fear and expectation', 'the fight against loneliness', 'confusion and adaptation to the changed class management policy', 'improving the ability to cope with a new phase', 'a springboard for growth'. Conclusion: Nursing students suffered psychosocial difficulties in a pandemic situation, but they adapted and led them to a positive direction. they lived as an opportunity to have time to check their career identity and tried to supplement their lives. We propose a study on the experiences of nursing students who have experienced self-isolation and the nature of nursing students' experiences in prolonged COVID-19 situations.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.79-88
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• 2022

The objective of this study was to assess the association of changes in behaviors and depressed mood during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea. A cross-sectional internet-based survey was conducted, using proportional samples of Korean adults and a logistic regression model was used to assess the association. As a result, negative changes of daily sitting or lying down time, daily walking time, smoking, and alcohol consumption were associated with being more depressed during the COVID-19 pandemic [odds ratios (ORs): 2.23 (95% CI=1.77-2.81), 2.04 (95% CI=1.63-2.56), 2.84 (95% CI=1.51-5.36), and 1.82 (95% CI=1.26-2.63), respectively]. This indicates that strategies to promote positive health behaviors change (increased activities and decreased consumption of smoking and alcohol) could help address psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.