• Korean Security Journal
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• no.34
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• pp.279-311
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• 2013

This study is to explore the development of Korean National Emergency Management System. For the study's purpose, the concept of Emergency, Emergency Management and the existing system and related laws of National Emergency Management have been reviewed. In South Korea, the concept of National Emergency Management contains the variety concept of emergency management; safety management, security management, risk management and disaster management etc. and sometimes using them interchangeably. In addition, there are several laws related to emergency management, making different agencies managing inter-related emergency without nationalized coordination and control tower that results in ineffective management of national emergency. This study attempts to clarify the concept of national emergency and to suggest the necessity of National Integrated Emergency Management System(IEMS). Then, it suggests existing system and related laws's integrate for the development of South Korean National Emergency Management System.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2017

The current study aims to propose a reorganization plan for the national emergency management system to improve the current organizational structure for responding to national disasters and emergency situations. As a theoretical framework, the current study identified four key elements of successful disaster response systems: responsiveness, controllability, expertise, and devotedness. On the basis of the four key elements of disaster response systems, this study critically reviewed the current state of the organizational structure of the Korean national emergency response system by discussing the issues inherent in the current structure and by doing a comparative analysis of two high-profile national disaster cases-the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014 and the Gwangsan Rescue of buried people in 2013. Then, this study proposed the reorganization plan for the national disaster response system in which the NEMA is under direct control of the Prime Minister of Korea. It coordinates and controls the related government departments, such as the police, maritime police, and military during the national disaster and emergency situation. This study also proposed a reorganizational plan for the regional disaster response system in Korea. Finally, it was suggested that the status of firefighters should be elevated to the national public servant level in order to achieve organizational efficiency and solve existing problems that come from the current separated systems.

• Korean Security Journal
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• no.50
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• pp.11-32
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• 2017

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 in the United Kingdom provides a comprehensive definition of "Emergency", calling upon the Uk's emergency management to deal with any disaster risk regardless of cause or source. Old contingency plans for civil defense and peacetime emergencies have been integrated into current integrated emergency management. In the UK, emergencies are managed by emergency services and other responders at the local level without direct involvement of central government. On top of this, a classified assessment of the risks of civil emergencies is also conducted on a regular basis, not only at the local level but also at the national level. This research looks into the Uk's emergency management system, including recent changes, and its risk assessment systems. Finally, the research draws policy implications for the development of Korea's disaster management mechanism as follows: 1) Korea should adopt an integrated emergency management system and combine civil defense with peacetime emergency planning, 2) it should create inter-operability between emergency responding organizations such as police, fire and ambulance, and finally 3) it must develop risk evaluating tools, such as a Community Risk Register and National Risk Register, both at the local and the national level. Last but not least, the UK emergency management system cannot be directly lifted from the UK and applied to risks and hazards faced by South Korea. Therefore, cross-cultural synthesis of many national approaches to emergency management is further required particularly for customizing policy to the particular needs of Korea.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.309-316
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• 2014

Objectives: This study aimed to test our hypothesis that a raise in the emergency fee implemented on March 1, 2013 has increased the proportion of patients with emergent symptoms by discouraging non-urgent emergency department visits. Methods: We conducted an analysis of 728 736 patients registered in the National Emergency Department Information System who visited level 1 and level 2 emergency medical institutes in the two-month time period from February 1, 2013, one month before the raise in the emergency fee, to March 31, 2013, one month after the raise. A difference-in-difference method was used to estimate the net effects of a raise in the emergency fee on the probability that an emergency visit is for urgent conditions. Results: The percentage of emergency department visits in urgent or equivalent patients increased by 2.4% points, from 74.2% before to 76.6% after the policy implementation. In a group of patients transferred using public transport or ambulance, who were assumed to be least conscious of cost, the change in the proportion of urgent patients was not statistically significant. On the other hand, the probability that a group of patients directly presenting to the emergency department by private transport, assumed to be most conscious of cost, showed a 2.4% point increase in urgent conditions (p<0.001). This trend appeared to be consistent across the level 1 and level 2 emergency medical institutes. Conclusions: A raise in the emergency fee implemented on March 1, 2013 increased the proportion of urgent patients in the total emergency visits by reducing emergency department visits by non-urgent patients.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.172-178
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• 2009

Purpose: We performed this study to determine how the emergency trauma team affects the treatment of patients with multiple severe trauma and to discuss the effect and the direction of the emergency trauma team's management. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 518 patients who visited our emergency department with severe trauma from August 2006 to July 2008. We divided the severe trauma patients into 2 groups : patients before and after trauma team management (Group 1 and Group 2). Then, we compared demographic characteristics, mechanisms of injury, and treatment outcomes (lengths of stay in the ED, admission ratio, and in-hospital mortality) between the 2 groups. In the same way, patients with multiple severe trauma were divided into 2 groups, that are patients before and after trauma team management (Group 3 and Group 4) and analyzed. Results: There was no significant difference, except mean age, between groups 1 and 2. In group 4 patients, compared to group 3 patients, the lengths of stay in the ED were lower (p value < 0.001), and the admission ratio were higher (p value = 0.017), but there was no significant difference in the in-hospital mortality between the groups 3 and 4. Conclusion: When patients with multiple severe trauma visit the ED, the emergency trauma team' management can decrease the lengths of stay in the ED and increase the admission ratio, but does not produce a decrease in the in-hospital mortality rate. Further investigations of emergency trauma team management are needed to improve treatment outcomes for patients with multiple severe trauma.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.33-40
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• 2009

The Railroad Safety Act was implemented in 2005 due to the increased concerns regarding railroad safety since the Daegu subway fire in 2003. In line with this, the Act became a standard to build the total railroad safety systems which has been overlooked compared to the quantitative growth of the railroad business. The minister of the ministry of Land, Transportation and Maritime Affairs lays down the Act for railroad Companies to conduct emergency programs in response to the emergency occurring on the railroad such as fire, explosion, derailment, etc. By enacting the Safety Act, the nation's construction of the contingency management system for railroad emergency increased", and it made the railroad company prepare the Emergency SOP by establishing 'The guideline on the Establishment of the railroad Emergency Plan' in order to support the efficiency of the Act. In line with this, I would like to analyze a matter of system development and the main function of the "railroad Emergency Training Program" for activation improvement of standardized operation procedure developed through the 'Total capitalize Safety Technology development'.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.69-77
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• 2019

Today, most of elevators have an emergency call facility for emergency situations. However, if the network installed in the elevator is also out of power, it cannot be used for the elevator remote monitoring and management. So, we develop an integrated and unified emergency call system, which can transmit not only telephone call but also data signals using PSTN(Public Switched Telephone Network) in order to remote monitoring and management of elevators, even though a power outage occurs. The proposed integrated emergency call system to process multiple data such as voice and operational information is a multi-channel board system which is composed of an emergency phone signal processing module and an operational information processing module in the control box of elevator. In addition, the RMS(remote management server) systems based on the Web consist of a dial-up server and a remote monitoring server where manages the elevator's operating information, status records, and operational faults received via the proposed integrated and unified emergency call system in real time. So even if there's a catastrophic emergency, the proposed RMS systems shall ensure and maintain the safety of passengers inside the elevator. Also, remote control of the elevator by this system should be more efficient and secure. In near future, all elevator emergency call system need to support multifunctional capabilities to transmit operational data as well as phone calls for the safety of passengers. In addition, for safer elevators, it is necessary to improve them more efficiently by combining them with high-tech technologies such as the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.173-179
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• 2022

Background: This study aimed to identify patterns of elderly patients who transferred from long-term care hospitals to emergency rooms and provide the evidence of emergency medical systems to prepare for a super-aged society. Methods: The data source was the National Emergency Department Information System database from January 2014 to December 2019 in Korea. We performed a cross-sectional study among elderly patients (≥65 years) who transferred from a long-term care hospital to an emergency room. Trend analysis was conducted by year. Results: We identified 225,765 elderly patients who were transferred from long-term care hospitals to emergency rooms between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2019. The proportion of the study population and their mean age were recently increased (p<0.001, respectively). The proportion of elderly patients being re-transferred (p=0.049) and the patients re-transferred to long-term care hospitals is significantly increased (p=0.005). Conclusion: The establishment of efficient emergency medical services for an aging society is important. It is necessary to develop a healthcare network with the government, long-term care hospitals, and medical institutions in the community suitable for preventing disease deterioration.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.380-391
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• 2014

Purpose: This was a descriptive research study to examine the patient safety risk factors and the level of safety management of nurses in emergency service, hospitals and to analyze the relationship between the two factors. Method: Data for analysis were collected from 232 nurses in emergency service, hospitals in Busan and Gyeongnam from July 30 to September 7, 2013. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficients. Results: Therapeutic agents showed the highest risk level. The prevention of transfusion errors showed the highest performance. As the nurses were working in regional emergency medical centers and received education more than 7 sessions on patient safety, they readily recognized the riskiness of the safety risk factors. In addition, as the nurses were older than 40, married, having more education about safety and understood the incident report registration system well, they performed safety management better. There were significant correlations between perception of the patient safety risk factors and performance for safety management. Conclusion: Nurses in emergency service, hospitals should try to improve safety management to reduce the risk factors shown to be higher based on the results and ensure the patient safety.

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