• Journal of Korean Institute of Fire Investigation
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.59-75
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• 2007

The causes of the fire casualties were the heat burns, contacted by flame, before the period of industrialization. According to the economic has been developed drastically since 1990, residing space has been become bigger and sophistication and interior finishing materials have been diversified. Therefore, the suffocation casualties, caused by inspiration of toxic combustion gases, have been more increased than the flame casualties in recently. Also, the arson casualties have been increasing with the increasing of insurance crime to take the Insurance money. According to National Emergency Management Agency announcement, 31,778 fires was occurred nationwide in 2006 and the total casualties were 2,180 occurred. 446 persons were died among them. Because the exact investigation of fire, occurred the death, is very especially important that civil and criminal cases will be happened. Therefore, we studied about the cause of fire, the place of origin, and the group of casualties age on the axies of fires, which were occurred recently. And the identification method of fire casualties, the human behavior characteristic, the flame casualties and the suffocation casualties at fire scene.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.1411-1416
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• 2018

Currently, most of the industrial areas like chemistry, manufacturing, shipbuilding, and steel, perform the work related to gas, and the staffs who are in charge of this work have a risk of suffocation without cognizing incidents like gas leak. For example, when the nitrogen gas leaked in 2015 at Paju, two people were killed and four people were injured. In 2018 at Pohang, four workers were suffocated to death from nitrogen gas. In order to solve this problem, this study realized the system in which workers could immediately cognize the gas leak and also deliver the situation to the staff in charge of safety at the same time, by installing the IoT device composed of gas sensor and communication module on the safety helmet that should be worn by field workers. This study is expected to be able to reduce the casualties caused by gas leak in industrial sites.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.181-191
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• 2009

As an effort to prevent serious accidents involving oxygen deficiency and suffocation in confined spaces and to identify the causes of such accidents, the present study investigated relevant accidents and systems in Korea and other countries. This study also conducted a number of experiments at lethal concentration levels of oxygen deficiency using SD rats and observed the changes of experimental animals with humidity, organic gas (toluene), hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide and so on at the oxygen deficient environment. The results of the study are as follows. 1. The results from the experiment conducted using SD rats at lethal concentration levels of oxygen showed that there were no casualties at the 7% oxygen concentration level, but the mortality increase to 20% at 6% oxygen, it was jumped to 90% at 5% oxygen, and it was also dramatically reached 100% at 4% oxygen concentration. Therefore, 5.5% was calculated as the $LC_{50}$ (rat, 4hr) from these dose-response experiments with oxygen deficiency. 2. When we changed the level of toluene, $H_2S$, CO, humidity, and so on, in an oxygen deficient environment, it was observed that the small concentrations of $H_2S$ and CO make the highest effect on animals. In case of 350 ppm $H_2S$, it resulted in 30% mortality, and the 100% mortality was shown in 1,200 ppm CO concentration. The mortality increased as an oxygen deficient condition. However in the case of toluene up to 1,000 ppm, it were not affected with oxygen deficiency, and it did not indicate any significant differences in mortality as 20%, 90% humidities.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.585-594
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• 2018

Objective: This study was designed to report on the progress of the fire at Jecheon sports complex and to assess the adequacy of Disaster Medical Assistant Team (DMAT)'s activities in response to the fire disaster. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review based on camera recordings and medical records that were recorded at the disaster site for assessment of activities. We cooperated with firefighters, police officers, local hospital medical staffs and public health personnel in Jecheon in order to classify patients in the disaster field and to understand the patients' progress. Results: At 15:53, the first request for emergency rescue came to the 119 general emergency call center, and a request for DMAT activation came at 16:28. DMAT arrived at the site at 17:04 and remained active until the following day at 00:43. The total number of casualties was 60, including 27 minimal (Green) patients, 29 expectant (Black) patients, three delayed (Yellow) patients, and one immediate (Red) patient. There were 32 patients who received on-site care by DMAT. Two patients were transferred from a local hospital to Wonju Severance Christian Hospital for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Conclusion: Twenty-nine victims were found in the sports complex building, and there were 31 mildly to moderately injured patients in this fire disaster. The main cause of death was thought to be smoke suffocation. Although DMAT was activated relatively quickly, it was not able to provide effective activity due to the late rescue and difficulty with fire suppression.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.26-35
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• 2023

Sparks cause most fire and explosion accidents in the manufacturing industry during hot work, which ignites surrounding combustible materials. Such incidents lead to high casualties due to suffocation from toxic gases and lack of evacuation. Therefore, the government recently enacted and revised 'The Occupational Safety and Health Act' to prevent fires and explosions at work sites, incorporating legal standards for fire observers, which are important in preventing accidents and the spread of fire during hot work. However, there are notable shortcomings in conducting professional cause analysis of these accidents and in aligning them with advanced foreign legal standards. Additionally, there is a lack of literature review reflecting the manufacturing industry characteristics. Despite the recent enactment and revision of legal standards, gathering sufficient opinions and professional reviews remains insufficient. To address these gaps, interviews were conducted with safety and health workers, analyzing recent fire and explosion causes in domestic manufacturing industries, and reviewing both domestic and international legal standards. Conclusively, proposed improvement measures were centered on the professionalization of fire observer education, enhancing their roles and authority realistically, and improving fire observer placement and operation standards. Consequently, additional 'Occupational Safety and Health Act' standards are necessary for fire observer education and defining the government's role. Second, precise legal standards outlining the role and authority of fire observers are required. Third tailored fire observer arrangements and management standards appropriate for varying work characteristics and company sizes are required. This study emphasizes the importance of supplementing relevant legal standards to prevent fire accidents in the manufacturing industry.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.675-682
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• 2021

Fire accidents on land and at sea can cause serious casualties; specifically, owing to the nature of marine plants and ships, the mortality rate at sea from suffocation in confined spaces is significantly higher than that on land. To prevent such cases of asphyxiation, it is essential to install ventilation fans that can outwardly direct these toxic gases from fires; however, considering the scale of marine fires, the installation of large ventilation fans is not easy owing to the nature of marine structures. Therefore, in this study, we developed a new concept for fire safety technology to control toxic gases generated by fires from applied direct current (DC) electric fields. In the event of a fire, most flames contain large numbers of positive and negative charges from chemi-ionization, which generates an "ionic wind" by Lorentz forces through the applied electric fields. Using these ionic winds, an experimental study was performed to artificially control the fire smoke caused by burning paper and styrofoam, which are commonly used as insulation materials in general buildings and ships. The experiments showed that a fire smoke could be artificially controlled by applying a DC voltage in excess of ±5 kV and that relatively effective control was possible by applying a negative voltage rather than a positive voltage.