• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.64-74
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• 2004

This study was conducted to investigate what contents nurses want in the intensive major course of junior nursing college. Data were collected for four months from October 2002 to February 2003 by structured questionnaires. Subjects were 240 registered nurses in working at five hospitals and four public health centers and elementary or middle schools in the capital and its suburbs and country. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 8.0 program. The results of this study were summarized as follows : 1. Nurses working at hospitals want the programs which involve the contents as follows : emergency nursing/CPR, infection control, critical care, caner pt. care, pain control, hospice, pulmonary disease pt. care, analysis of lab. exam, heart disease pt. care, chronic disease pt. care, DM pt. care, digestive-system disease pt. care, nervous-system disease pt. care, elderly pt. care, immune-system disease pt. care, endocrine-system disease pt. care. 2. Nurses working at public health centers want the programs which involve the contents as follows : home nursing, family nursing, management of DM, HT, degenerative disease, and chronic liver disease, elderly pt. care, health education, maternity nursing, rehabilitation nursing. 3. Nurses working at elementary or middle schools want the programs which involve the contents as follows : prevention of drug abuse or misuse, sex education and consultation, health education, consultation technique, emergency care, prevention of child obesity, prevention and management of adult disease in children, teaching method, method of school health room management.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.223-235
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• 2010

Purpose: This study was done to investigate the prevalence of job stress and musculoskeletal symptoms, and to identify the factors that affect work-related musculoskeletal symptoms of the 119 Emergency medical technicians (EMT). Method: From August 26 to September 10, 2010, the data were obtained from 456 EMT working in Daejeon city or Choongnam province. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression were performed using SAS version 9.1. Results: Physical environment, job demand, interpersonal conflict, and occupational climate were stressful to 119 EMT. The prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms of female EMT was higher than those of the male EMT's. After gender and age were adjusted, there ware significant relationships between musculoskeletal symptoms and some risk factors including occupational class, hours of intensive musculoskeletal use, previous injury or work-related injury, physical burden, and job stress. Overall, a higher degree of job stress increased musculoskeletal symptoms. Conclusion: Job stress is a major cause of musculoskeletal symptoms. To prevent and manage musculoskeletal disease of 119 EMT, there is a need to develop a management program for musculoskeletal symptoms to reduce occupational stress, considering gender differences.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.3 s.71
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• pp.197-206
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• 2007

Objectives : By recording basic data of patients visiting the emergency room of the oriental medicine center, we can understand their characteristics and gain better insight about them. Methods : We performed a retrospective study of 2,674 patients who visited the emergency room of Kyunghee Oriental Medical Center, from June 1, 2006 to May 31, 2007. Results : 1. Of 2,674 total patients, the male to female ratio was 0.94:1 and the 6th decade of life was the peak age group. 2. The majority of patients visited our emergency room between 06:00 and 24:00(midnight). 3. Most patients visited on a Saturday or Sunday. 4. By monthly distribution, the patients increased slightly during June, July, August and October. 5. The majority of patients visited the emergency room within 24 hours of onset. 6. The patients were categorized as follows: neurological diseases 71.15%, musculoskeletal diseases 16.02%, internal medical disease 9.04%, psychiatric and related disease 3.79%. 7. The average transit time was about 1 hour 30 minutes. 8. Admission rate was 48% and the rate of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) was 5% of total visiting patients. Conclusion : Assuming that this research will continue adding patient's data continuously, this work will help us to understand the features of patients who visiting the emergency room of the oriental medical center.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.66-74
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• 2022

Purpose: This study investigates the characteristics and prognosis of acute poisoning patients visiting nationwide emergency departments before and after the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Data were obtained from the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS). Methods: This nationwide retrospective observational study included acute poisoning patients who visited the emergency departments between February 1 to December 31, 2020, which has been determined as the pandemic period. The same periods in 2018 and 2019 were designated as the control periods. The primary outcome assessed was the length of stay in emergency departments (EDLOS). The secondary outcomes examined were intensive care unit admission rate and in-hospital mortality rate before and after the pandemic. A subgroup analysis was performed for inpatients and intentional poisoning patients. Results: A total of 163,560 patients were included in the study. During the pandemic, the proportion of women increased from 50.0% in 2018 and 50.3% in 2019 to 52.5% in 2020. Patients aged 20-29 years increased from 13.4% in 2018 and 13.9% in 2019 to 16.6% in 2020. A rise in cases of intentional poisoning was also noted - from 33.9% in 2018 and 34.0% in 2019 to 38.4% in 2020. Evaluating the hospitalized poisoned patients revealed that the EDLOS increased from 3.8 hours in 2018 and 3.7 hours in 2019 to 4.2 hours in 2020. ICU admissions were also markedly increased (2018, 48.2%; 2019, 51.8%; 2020, 53.2%) among hospitalized patients. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and prognosis of acute poisoning patients visiting nationwide emergency departments in Korea. The proportion of young adults, women, and intentional poisoning patients has increased after the COVID-19 pandemic. Prolonged length of stay at the emergency department and an increased rate of intensive care unit admissions were determined in hospitalized acute poisoning patients.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.81-88
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• 2013

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate current status, indications, and complications of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Methods: A retrospective investigation of patients who underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy at a university medical center from September 2004 to August 2013 was conducted based on patients' medical records and results of an email survey for 99 emergency centers. Results: During the study period, a total of 233 patients underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Indications for hyperbaric oxygen treatment of illness or injury were as follows: 1) 151 cases of acute carbon monoxide poisoning(65.4%), 2) flap wound management, including 42 cases(18.2%), 3) skin care transplanted, including 23 cases(10.4%), 4) Burger's disease, including 5 five cases(2.1%), respectively. Total application time$^*$ frequency was 1,088 and total time was 1,239 hours. Among 233 patients who underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy, 32 patients(13.7%) had complications: 1) otalgia in 21 cases(9.0%), 2) mastoiditis?in six cases(2.6%), 3) hemotympanum in five cases(2.1%), respectively. There were only 8 emergency centers that currently had an operational hyperbaric oxygen chamber in 77 emergency centers(10.4%). Conclusion: Indications identified through this study showed difference from current indications worldwide. It seems necessary that physicians' perception regarding application of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for more indications be changed and improved. A hyperbaric chamber capable of providing respiratory assistance and intensive care is also needed. A good network for sharing treatment experiences and a specialized team for administration of hyperbaric oxygen therapy is also required.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.188-196
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• 2012

Objectives : This study was aimed to provide the basic characteristic of patients who visited an Oriental medical hospital emergency room. Methods : We performed a retrospective study on 1,119 patients who visited Kyunghee University Oriental Medical Hospital Emergency Room from June 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012. Results and Conclusions : 1. In distribution of sex, the rate of males was 44.1%, and that of females was 55.9%. The male to female ratio was thus 1:1.26. The patients' average age was 54.64 and the 6th decade of life was the peak age group. 2. Most of the patients visited the Oriental medical hospital emergency room between 11:00 and 23:00. 3. In distribution by days of the week, the most common was Sundays (24.5%), followed by Mondays (16.7%). 4. In the month distribution, the most was December (12.4%), followed by November (10.0%). 5. The patients were grouped as follows: neurological diseases 58.9%, musculoskeletal disease 27.5%, internal medical disease 10.4%, and others 3.2%. 6. Admission rate of patients being treated was 38.8%, and the admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) was 4.5%. of total visiting patients.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.269-273
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• 2009

A 57-year old man who was admitted to an emergency room of a tertiary hospital with hemoptysis developed malarial fever 19 days later and then died from severe falciparum malaria 2 days later. He had not traveled outside of Korea for over 30 years. Through intensive interviews and epidemiological surveys, we found that a foreign patient with a recent history of travel to Africa was transferred to the same hospital with severe falciparum malaria. We confirmed through molecular genotyping of the MSP-1 gene that Plasmodium falciparum genotypes of the 2 patients were identical. It is suggested that a breach of standard infection control precautions resulted in this P. falciparum transmission between 2 patients in a hospital environment. This is the first report of a nosocomial transmission of falciparum malaria in Korea.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.72-82
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• 2021

Purpose: A high anion gap (AG) is known to be a significant risk factor for serious acid-base imbalances and death in acute poisoning cases. The strong ion difference (SID), or strong ion gap (SIG), has recently been used to predict in-hospital mortality or acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome. This study presents a comprehensive acid-base analysis in order to identify the predictive value of the SIG for disease severity in severe poisoning. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on acute poisoning patients treated in the emergency intensive care unit (ICU) between December 2015 and November 2020. Initial serum electrolytes, base deficit (BD), AG, SIG, and laboratory parameters were concurrently measured upon hospital arrival and were subsequently used along with Stewart's approach to acid-base analysis to predict AKI development and in-hospital death. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and logistic regression analysis were used as statistical tests. Results: Overall, 343 patients who were treated in the intensive care unit were enrolled. The initial levels of lactate, AG, and BD were significantly higher in the AKI group (n=62). Both effective SID [SIDe] (20.3 vs. 26.4 mEq/L, p<0.001) and SIG (20.2 vs. 16.5 mEq/L, p<0.001) were significantly higher in the AKI group; however, the AUC of serum SIDe was 0.842 (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.799-0.879). Serum SIDe had a higher predictive capacity for AKI than initial creatinine (AUC=0.796, 95% CI=0.749-0.837), BD (AUC=0.761, 95% CI=0.712-0.805), and AG (AUC=0.660, 95% CI=0.607-0.711). Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that diabetes, lactic acidosis, high SIG, and low SIDe were significant risk factors for in-hospital mortality. Conclusion: Initial SIDe and SIG were identified as useful predictors of AKI and in-hospital mortality in intoxicated patients who were critically ill. Further research is necessary to evaluate the physiological nature of the toxicant or unmeasured anions in such patients.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.58 no.10
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• pp.380-385
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• 2015

Purpose: Croup is a common pediatric respiratory illness with symptoms of varying severity. Moreover, epiglottitis is a rare disease that can rapidly progress to life-threatening airway obstruction. Although the clinical course and treatments differ between croup and epiglottitis, they are difficult to differentiate on presentation. We aimed to compare the clinical characteristics of croup and epiglottitis in Emergency Department patients. Methods: The 2012 National Emergency Department Information System database of 146 Korean Emergency Departments was used to investigate patients aged ${\leq}18years$ presenting with croup or epiglottitis. Results: We analyzed 19,374 croup patients and 236 epiglottitis patients. The male:female sex ratios were 1.9:1 and 2.3:1 and mean ages were $2.2{\pm}2.0$ and $5.6{\pm}5.8years$, respectively. The peak incidence of croup was observed in July and that of epiglottitis was observed in May. The hospitalization rate was lower in croup than in epiglottitis patients, and the proportion of patients treated in the intensive care unit was lower among croup patients. The 3 most common chief complaints in both croup and epiglottitis patients were cough, fever, and dyspnea. Epiglottitis patients experienced dyspnea, sore throat, and vomiting more often than croup patients (P<0.05). Conclusion: Both groups had similar sex ratios, arrival times, 3 most common chief complaints, and 5 most common comorbidities. Epiglottitis patients had a lower incidence rate, higher mean age of onset, and higher hospitalization rate and experienced dyspnea, sore throat, and vomiting more often than croup patients. Our results may help in the differential diagnosis of croup and epiglottitis.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.227-238
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• 2017

Cardiac arrest is a serious intensive emergency disease that causes death within less than several minutes by depriving the body and brain of blood supply. Survival rate of cardiac arrest patients outside of hospitals is especially low. This is because pedestrians usually do not perceive the patient as a sick person, also, even if they do so, they have no medical knowledge to properly react to such emergency. The purpose of this study is to propose a solution that uses widely spread smart phones to alert pedestrians of the cardiac arrest patient, prevents cardiac arrest, and provides first-aid measures. By applying the proposed solution, cardiac arrest can be prevented in advance, pedestrians can be alerted to keep the golden time(4 minutes), and first witness can quickly proceed with CPR, ultimately enhancing the survival rate of the cardiac arrest patient.