• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.55 no.5
• /
• pp.293-295
• /
• 2014

Post-traumatic cerebral infarction (PTCI) is a secondary insult which causes global cerebral hypoxia or hypoperfusion after traumatic brain injury, and carries a remarkable high mortality rate. PTCI is usually caused by blunt brain injury with gross hematoma and/or brain herniation. Herein, we present the case of a 91-year-old male who had sustained PTCI following a low-energy penetrating craniocerebral injury due to a nail without evidence of hematoma. The patient survived after a decompressive craniectomy, but permanent neurological damage occurred. This is the first case of profound PTCI following a low-energy penetrating craniocerebral nail injury and reminds clinicians of possibility this rare dreadful complication for care of head-injured patients.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
• /
• 2008.06a
• /
• pp.131-132
• /
• 2008

It is necessary to develop a high-speed wireless transmission system, which is able to send medical informations to the emergency medical center during emergency patient transportation. In this research, a system which transmits patient’s vital signs and a real-time audio/video contents of the event has been designed, developed, and the suitability of the system has been verified. Test results indicate that the system is capable of transmitting vital signal data, including 17 numeric data, 12 waveforms and 113 events, reading the affected part by forwarding a $320{\times}240$ pixel image at 2fps. Also, the full-duplex voice transmission of the system at 8bit/64kbps is enough to make stable communication between emergency medical technicians and hospital professionals possible. After numerous hours of driving, the packet loss of patient vital signs is 0.013%.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.138-141
• /
• 2007

Because of the ready availability of aspirin, salicylate poisoning remains a common problem in many countries. Another potential source of salicylate poisoning is medicated oil containing methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen). Methyl salicylate poses a much greater safety threat than aspirin tablets because of its liquid, concentrated form and high lipid solubility. Because of this danger, the toxic potential of medicated oil containing methyl salicylate should be fully appreciated both by physicians and by the general public. We encountered two cases of salicylate poisoning resulting from accidental ingestion of Chinese medicated oil. We report these cases along with a review of the literature.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.63-70
• /
• 2014

Purpose: In children, mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI) account for 70~90% of head injuries. Without guidelines, many of these children may be exposed to excess radiation due to unnecessary imaging. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a mild TBI guideline in imaging of pediatric patients. Methods: The medical records of all children who had head computed tomography and were admitted to our hospital with a TBI with Pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale and Glasgow Coma Scale of 14 to 15 were retrospectively reviewed and compared with PECARN Rule. Results: A total of 1260 children were included and all children checked with head computed tomography. 61 pediatrics had CT positive and presented skull fracture 40, hemorrhage 8, hemorrhagic contusion 7, and diffuse axonal injury 1. Also, 4 patients diagnosed both skull fracture and brain haemorrhage and 1 patient diagnosed both haemorrhage and haemorrhagic contusion. Conclusion: There are many pediatric traumatic patients who exposed to radiation due to CT. But, the most of results were negative. So, consider to follow the CT guideline for children and many do not require brain CT.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.23-39
• /
• 2006

In Korea, There are many disasters, like the collapse of Sampung department store, the strike of severe typhoon 'Rusa' and the subway tragedy in Taegu, because of global warming, urbanization, high-density and high-rise of buildings. So, the government made 'The Framework Act' on the safe and management of disaster and 'The National Emergency Management Agency' was established. But emergency medical service systems in Korea is not growing so much. The purpose of this research is to give basic data for the development of emergency medical service systems in Disaster by comparing of disaster management systems and emergency medical systems among the nations of the world, analysing emergency medical systems in disaster in Korea and suggesting some improvement methods. The improvment methods are like this ; First, establishing the National Disaster Medical System in Korea, making the good triage by EMT, expansion of EMT's working area, developing protocols and framing of medical director increasing the working force of EMT, broad inner cavity of ambulance for treatment of patientent, supplement of professional equipments, active using of helicopters are needed in prehospital are. Second, equal establishment of emergency medical center and increase of working force of emergency medical team are needed in hospital area. Finally, enforcement of the dispatcher's qualification, smooth communication among EMSS systems and actualization of medical direction through screen are needed in the Telecommunication system.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.102-106
• /
• 2010

Purpose: With the increasing numbers of foreign residents in Korea, the need for an emergency medical care system for foreign patients seems to be growing. Sometimes, a foreigner admitted to an emergency room is not treated sufficiently due to the absence of insurance, facility in the Korean language, and a guardian. The management of a foreigner with trauma in the ER is difficult due to various problems such as social and economic status. The purpose of this study was to investigate the current management status of foreigners with penetrating wounds in the emergency room. Methods: This study is an analysis of 580 patients that were diagnosed with penetrating wounds in one teaching Hospital from Jan. 1, 2008 to Dec. 31, 2008. We analyzed results according to nationality, alcohol ingestion, intentional or accidental trauma, trauma mechanism, injury severity, management time in the ER, and outcome in the ER. Results: Of the total 580 patients, 486 patients (83.8%) were native Koreans and 94 patients (16.2%) were foreigners. According to the Revised Trauma Score, the average score of native Korean patients was 7.808, and the average score of foreign patients was 7.638. Of native Korean patients, 22.6% had knife wounds while 38.3% of foreign patients did. Of native Korean patients, 17.3% experienced intentional trauma while 33.0% of the foreign patients did. Of native Korean patients, 22.5% had ingested alcohol while 49.4% of the foreigners had. Of native Korean patients, 10.5% were admitted while 7.6% of the foreign patients were. Of native Korean patients, 14.2% were discharged against medical advice (DAMA), while 18.5% of foreign patients were. Of native Korean patients, 1.2% ran away while 8.7% of the foreign patients did. Conclusion: Stabbing was the most common cause of penetrating wounds in foreigner patients in this study. Intentional trauma was more common in foreigners with penetrating wounds than in native Koreans. The severity was higher in foreigners with penetrating wounds than it was in native Koreans, and patients who ran away or were discharged against medical advice were more commonly foreigners with penetrating wounds. Social insurance or policy is needed for the management of foreigners with penetrating wounds.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.703-712
• /
• 2007

In this paper, we designed the RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) Emergency Medical Information System(REMIS). This REMIS offers the emergency patient's medical information using RFID and HL7(Health Level 7) to an emergency medical technician. In emergency situation as like coma, if the communication, from the patient's current location to the hospital, is possible, REMIS offer the medical information of the patient through REMIS server to an emergency medical technician. In the state of communication blocked, REMIS can offer the patient identification and the emergency information through RFID tag, which the patient wear, to an emergency medical technician. When this system was designed, the protection of the patient's medical information and their privacy was considered, and the HL7 was used to be compatible with another medical systems. Therefore, in this paper, REMIS was designed that it is always possible to offer the emergency patient's information to an emergency medical technician regardless of any communication status and to improve the emergency rescue process, effectively.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.43-49
• /
• 2014

Purpose: Trauma is one of the most common causes of death for children, and identifying severely injured children quickly in an overcrowded emergency room (ER) is difficult. Therefore, severe injury must be prevented, and the severity of injuries in children must be determined easily from their general characteristics and pre-hospital factors. Methods: Injured children younger than 15 years of age who visited the ER from June 2011 to May 2013 were enrolled. According to the revised trauma score (RTS) of the patients, the study population was divided in two groups, a severe group (RTS<7) and a mild group ($RTS{\geq}7$). The general characteristics and the pre-hospital factors were compared between the two groups. Results: Six hundred seventy-three children were enrolled, their mean age was 8.03 (${\pm}4.45$) years, and 476 (70.73%) patients were male. Of these patients, 22 patients (3.27%) were in the severe group, and 651 patients (96.73%) were in the mild group. Fewer males were in the severe group than in the mild group (50.00% vs. 71.43%, p=0.030), and children in the severe group were younger than children in the mild group (3.50 vs. 8.00 years, p=0.049). In the severe group, toddlers (54.55%, p=0.036) were the most common age group. Severe injuries occurred more often in spring (32.81%) and summer (54.56%) than in autumn (9.09%) and winter (4.55%) (p=0.026). The most common places of injury in the severe group were roads (50.00%, p=0.009), and the most common mechanisms of injury in the severe group were traffic accidents (50.00%), followed by falls (31.82%) (p=0.011). Most severely injured children were transferred by ambulance (72.73%, p=0.000). Conclusion: The results of this study may be helpful for identifying severely injured children quickly in the field and the ER. To prevent severe pediatric injuries, precautions and policies based on these results should be established.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.19-31
• /
• 2019

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate disaster preparedness competence and disaster response competence of paramedics working in emergency medical centers operating a disaster medical assistance teams. Methods: Data of 174 emergency medical technician(EMT)-paramedics were collected from July 15 to August 14, 2018 at regional and local emergency medical centers that operate disaster medical assistant team. Analysis of the data was carried out with IBM SPSS statistics 24.0 software (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). Results: The mean disaster preparedness competence score was $3.57{\pm}0.63$ (out of five). Participants' disaster preparedness competence significantly differed according to type of emergency medical center (p<.000), disaster education experience (p<.000), and education frequency (p=.001). The mean disaster response competence score was $4.09{\pm}0.57$ (out of five). Participants' disaster response competence significantly differed according to disaster education experience (p<.000) and medical assistance experience (p=.045). Conclusion: Emergency medical technician-paramedics without disaster training should first be provided with this training. Further, it is important for EMT-paramedics to know their disaster preparedness and response capacities and strengthen their shortcomings. It is also important to develop education and training programs that properly equip EMT-paramedics with practical competencies.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.12 no.12
• /
• pp.5779-5788
• /
• 2011

This study was conducted to comprehend the current status of regional self-sufficiency of Hospital injury inpatients and, based on this, to prepare some measures for improving the self-sufficiency. For this purpose, 2005 & 2008 Patient Survey data, regional medical utilization data of National Health Insurance Corporation, yearbook of Central Emergency Medical Center and evaluation results of emergency medical institutions were obtained. Frequency analysis, cross-tabulation, decision tree and logistic regression techniques were used in the analysis of data. Self-sufficiency in 'metropolitan city/Do' area was lowest for Chungcheongnam-do for the year 2005 and 2008, followed by Gyeongsangbuk-do, Gyeonggi-do and Jeollanam-do. As for the self-sufficiency in 'Si/Gun/Gu' area with regard to local medical supply, for both 2005 and 2008, It was higher when general hospital, district emergency medical center, regional emergency medical center and regional emergency medical institution existed in the residential area. It was also found that, the higher the quality level of local emergency medical institution, the higher the self-sufficiency. It was confirmed that, when promoting the national policy for injury patients, priority should be placed on 'Do' area where the level of emergency medical supply was low, and that enhancing the quality level of emergency medical institutions was helpful for the improvement of self-sufficiency.