• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• v.33 no.48
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• pp.295.1-295.7
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• 2018

Background: Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) infections have become a major healthcare-associated pathogen problem worldwide. Nosocomial VRE infections could be effectively controlled by screening patients at high risk of harboring VRE and thereby lowering the influx of VRE into healthcare centers. In this study, we evaluated factors associated with VRE colonization in patients transferred to emergency departments, to detect patients at risk for VRE carriage. Methods: This study was conducted in the emergency department of a medical college-affiliated hospital in Korea. Every patient transferred to the emergency department and admitted to the hospital from January to December 2016 was screened for VRE using rectal cultures. In this cross-sectional study, the dependent variable was VRE colonization and the independent variables were demographic and clinical factors of the patients and factors related to the transferring hospital. Patients were divided into two groups, VRE and non-VRE, and previously collected patient data were analyzed. Then we performed logistic regression analyses of characteristics that differed significantly between groups. Results: Out of 650 patients, 106 (16.3%) had positive VRE culture results. Significant variables in the logistic analysis were transfer from geriatric long-term care hospital (adjusted odds ration [aOR]: 8.017; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.378-46.651), hospital days (4-7 days; aOR: 7.246; 95% CI: 3.229-16.261), duration of antimicrobial exposure (1-3 days; aOR: 1.976; 95% CI: 1.137-3.436), and age (aOR: 1.025; 95% CI: 1.007-1.043). Conclusion: VRE colonization in patients transferred to the emergency department is associated primarily with factors related to the transferred hospitals rather than demographic and clinical characteristics.

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

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2014

Purpose: This study was conducted to test the impact of simulation-based education program for emergency airway management on self-efficacy and clinical performance ability. Methods: A quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group pre-post test design was used. A total of 60 nurses, 30 nurses assigned to the simulation-based education group and 30 nurses to a traditional lecture group. The treatment group received a lecture, small group workshop and team simulation whereas the comparison group received lectures. Results: The participants in the simulation-based education group reported significantly higher self-efficacy of emergency airway management compared to participants in the lecture only group (t=5.985, p<.001). The simulation-based education group showed significantly higher clinical performance ability of emergency airway management compared with the lecture group (t=5.532, p<.001). Conclusion: Simulation-based education was verified to be an effective teaching method to improve the self-efficacy, clinical performance skills of nurses in the learning of emergency airway management.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.47-52
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• 2015

This paper derives the problems that occur when asynchronous transfer in case of phase, frequency, voltage between the emergency generator and the grid and proposed the countermeasure to solve this problem when the transfer switch replace ATS(Automatic Transfer Switch) with CTTS(Closed Transition Transfer Switch) for the non-interrupting switching. In order to simulate above cases, modelling was used the transient analysis program PSCAD/EMTDC. By using this, the customer installed emergency generator and the grid was implemented. We compared three cases of asynchronous transition based on the basic case and proposed improvement by controlling the governor of emergency generator.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.122-128
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• 2013

This study analyzed the emergency activity daily reports and emergency instruction sheets of the research subjects and proceeded with the shockable cardiac arrest cases transported to 119 emergency units for two years before the hospital from January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2011. The most frequently predicted instruction by the dispatchers at the 119 Emergency Situation Control Center was 74 cases of fainting (33.3%). Among varied types of predicted instructions, 112 cases (50.5%) like fainting, chest pain, general prostration and others were not able to be predicted while predictable instructions involved with cardiac arrest such as consciousness disorders, difficult breathing, cardiac attacks and convulsion were 110 cases (49.5%). In such cases, success rates of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) trials by eyewitnesses at predictable instructions involved with cardiac arrests were significantly higher. As mentioned, situation agents must categorize types of cardiac arrests accurately by posing questions over assessments regarding patients' consciousness and respiration in detail. The patients categorized by such methods must guide eyewitnesses to be able to do CPR. Moreover, not only emergency medical technicians who receive predictable instructions involved with cardiac arrests given by dispatchers (49.5%) but also filed emergency medical technicians who are not able to reach a precise conclusion to non-cardiac arrests on unpredictable instructions on cardiac arrests (50.5%) must prepare for situations related to cardiac arrests before being dispatched to the field.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.188-195
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• 2012

Purpose: An increase in the demand for specialized Trauma Centers led to a government-driven campaign, that began in 2009. Our hospital was selected as one of the Trauma Centers, and we reviewed data on trauma patients in order to correlate the mortality at a regional Trauma Center with its contributing factors, such as the severity of the injury, the means of arrival, and the time duration before arrival at our center. Methods: Data on the patients who visited our Trauma Center from January 2010 to November 2011 were retrospectively reviewed using electronic medical records. The patients who had revised trauma scores (RTSs) less than 7 or injury severity scores (ISSs) greater than 15 were included. The patients were categorized as survivors and non-survivors, and the means of arrival as transferred or visited directly. Time durations before arrival of less than one hour were also taken intoconsideration. Results: Two hundred(200) patients were enrolled, and the mortality rate was 36.5%. The most common cause of the accident was an automobile accident, and the most common cause of death was brain injury. The RTSs and the ISSs were significantly different in the non-survivor and the survivor groups. The mortality rate of the patients who were transferred was not statistically different from that of patients who visited directly. However, a time duration before arrival of less than one hour was statistically meaningful. Conclusion: The prognosis of the trauma patients were correlated with the severity of the trauma as can be expected, but the time between the incidence of accident and the arrival at hospital and whether the presence of transfer to trauma center were not statistically significant to the prognosis.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.283-295
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• 1999

Background: Patients with acute non-traumatic chest pain are among the most challenging patients for care by emergency physicians, so the correct diagnosis and triage of patients with chest pain in the emergency department(ED) becomes important. To avoid discharging patients with acute myocardial infarction(AMI) without medical care, most emergency physicians attempt to admit almost all patients with acute chest pain and order many laboratory tests for the patients. But in practice, many patients with non-cardiac pain can be discharged with simple tests and treatment. These patients occupy expensive intensive care beds, substantially increasing financial cost and time of stay at ED for the diagnosis and treatment of myocardial ischemia and AMI. Despite vigorous efforts to identify patients with ischemic heart disease, approximately 2% to 5% of patients presented to the ED with AMI and chest pain are inadvertently discharged. If the cause for the chest pain is known, rapid and accurate diagnosis can be implemented, preventing wastes in time and money and inadvertent discharge. Methods and Results: The medical records of 488 patients from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1997 were reviewed. There were 320(angina pectoris 140, AMI 128) cases of cardiac diseases, and 168(atypical chest pain 56, pneumothorax 47) cases of non-cardiac diseases. The number of associated symptoms were $1.1{\pm}0.9$ in non-cardiac diseases, $1.4{\pm}1.1$ in cardiac diseases and $1.7{\pm}1.1$ in AMI(p<0.05). In laboratory finding the sensitivity of electrocardiography(EKG) was 96.1%, while the sensitivity of myoglobin test ranked 45.1%. Admission rate was 71.6% in for cardiac diseases and 50.6% for non-cardiac diseases(p<0.01). Mortality rate was 8.8% in all cases, 13.8% in cardiac diseases, 0.6% in non-cardiac diseases, and 28.1% especially in AMI. Conclusion: In conclusion, all emergency physicians should have thorough knowledge of the clinical characteristics of the diseases which cause non-traumatic chest pain, because a patient with any of these life-threatening diseases would require immediate treatment. Detailed history on the patient should be taken and physical examination performed. Then, the most simple diagnostic approach should be used to make an early diagnosis and to provide treatment.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.79-86
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• 2012

Purpose: The most common cuase of transfusion for trauma victims in an emergency department is hypovolemic shock due to injury. After an injury to an internal organ of the chest or the abdomen, transfusion is needed to supply blood products and to compensate tissue oxygen transport and bleeding. From the 1990's, there have been some reports that transfusion is one of the major factors causing multiple-organ failure. Thus, as much as possible, tranfusion has been minimized in the clinical setting. This study aims to analyze the prognostic factors for mortality among trauma victims transfused with blood products in an emergency department. Methods: We conducted this study for the year of 2010 retrospectively. The study group included adult trauma victims tranfused with blood products in our ED. The exclusion criteria were discharge against medical advice, and missing follow-up due to transfer to another facility. During the study period, 34 adult trauma victims were enrolled. We compared the clinical variables between survivors and non-survivors. Results: the mean age of the 34 victims was 58.06 years, and males account for 58.5% of the study group. The most-frequently used form transportation was ambulance(119, 55.9%), and the most common injury mechanism was mobile vehicle accidents(67.6%). The mean revised trauma score (RTS) was 5.9, and the mean injury severity score (ISS) was 47.76. The mortality rate in the ED was 58.5%, Comparison of survivors with non-survivors showed statistical differences in injury mechanism, initial SBP, DBP, RTS, ISS, and some laboratory data such as AST, ALT, pH, PO2, HCO3, glucose (p<0.05). Regression analyses showed that mortality among adult trauma victims transfused in the ED correlated with RTS. Conclusion: When an adult trauma victim is transported to the ED and needs a tranfusion, the emergency physician carefully assess the victim by using physiologic data.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.96-103
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• 2020

Purpose: In patients with trauma, rhabdomyolysis (RM) can lead to fatal complications resulting from muscle damage. Thus, RM must be immediately diagnosed and treated to prevent complications. Creatine kinase (CK) is the most sensitive marker for diagnosing RM. However, relying on CK tests may result in delayed treatment, as it takes approximately 1 hour to obtain CK blood test results. Hence, this study investigated whether the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) could predict RM at an earlier time point in patients with trauma, since NLR results can be obtained within 10 minutes. Methods: This retrospective study included 130 patients with severe trauma who were admitted to the emergency room of a tertiary institution between January 2017 and April 2020. RM was defined as a CK level ≥1,000 U/L at the time of arrival. Patients with severe trauma were categorized into non-RM and RM groups, and their characteristics and blood test results were analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 26.0 for Windows. Results: Of the 130 patients with severe trauma, 50 presented with RM. In the multivariate analysis, the NLR (odds ratio [OR], 1.252; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.130-1.386), pH level (OR, 0.006; 95% CI, 0.000-0.198), presence of acute kidney injury (OR, 3.009; 95% CI, 1.140-7.941), and extremity Abbreviated Injury Scale score (OR, 1.819; 95% CI, 1.111-2.980) significantly differed between the non-RM and RM groups. A receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that a cut-off NLR value of 3.64 was the best for predicting RM. Conclusions: In patients with trauma, the NLR at the time of arrival at the hospital is a useful biochemical marker for predicting RM.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.24-30
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• 2017

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate the frequency and clinical characteristics of anaphylaxis patients who are registered inaccurately with other disease codes. Methods: Study subjects presenting at the emergency department (ED) were retrospectively collected using disease codes to search for anaphylaxis patients in a previous studies. The study group was divided into an accurate and inaccurate group according to whether disease codes were accurately registered as anaphylaxis codes. Results: Among 266 anaphylaxis patients, 144 patients (54%) received inaccurate codes. Cancer was the most common comorbidity, and the radio-contrast media was the most common cause of anaphylaxis in the accurate group. Cutaneous and respiratory symptoms manifested more frequently in the inaccurate group, while cardiovascular and neurological symptoms were more frequent in the accurate group. Blood pressure was lower, and shock and non-alert consciousness were more common in the accurate group. Administration of intravenous fluid and epinephrine use were more frequent in the accurate group. Anaphylaxis patients with a history of cancer, shock, and epinephrine use were more likely to be registered as anaphylaxis codes accurately, but patients with respiratory symptoms were more likely to be registered with other disease codes. Conclusion: In cases of anaphylaxis, the frequency of inaccurately registered disease codes was higher than that of accurately registered codes. Anaphylaxis patients who were not treated with epinephrine at the ED who did not have a history of cancer, but had respiratory symptoms were at increased risk of being registered with disease codes other than anaphylaxis codes.