Objective Emergency department (ED) triage systems are used to classify the severity and urgency of emergency patients, and Korean medical institutions use the Korean Triage and Acuity Scale (KTAS). During the COVID-19 pandemic, appropriate treatment for emergency patients was delayed due to various circumstances, such as overcrowding of EDs, lack of medical workforce resources, and increased workload on medical staff. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the KTAS in predicting the urgency of emergency patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This study retrospectively reviewed patients who were treated in the ED during the pandemic period from January 2020 to June 2021. Patients were divided into COVID-19–screening negative (SN) and COVID-19–screening positive (SP) groups. We compared the predictability of the KTAS for urgent patients between the two groups. Results From a total of 107,480 patients, 62,776 patients (58.4%) were included in the SN group and 44,704 (41.6%) were included in the SP group. The odds ratios for severity variables at each KTAS level revealed a more evident discriminatory power of the KTAS for severity variables in the SN group (P<0.001). The predictability of the KTAS for severity variables was higher in the SN group than in the SP group (area under the curve, P<0.001). Conclusion During the pandemic, the KTAS had low accuracy in predicting patients in critical condition in the ED. Therefore, in future pandemic periods, supplementation of the current ED triage system should be considered in order to accurately classify the severity of patients.
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Prognostic Performance of the Korean Triage and Acuity Scale Combined with the National Early Warning Score for Predicting Mortality and ICU Admission at Emergency Department Triage: A Retrospective Observational Study Jungtaek Park, Sang Hoon Oh, Ae Kyung Gong, Jee Yong Lim, Sun Hee Woo, Won Jung Jeong, Ji Hoon Kim, In Soo Kim, Soo Hyun Kim Diagnostics.2026; 16(2): 345. CrossRef
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Objective Fall from height (FFH) is a major public health problem that can result in severe injury, disability, and death. This study investigated how the characteristics of jumpers and fallers differ.
Methods This was a retrospective study of FFH patients enrolled in an Emergency Department-based Injury In-depth Surveillance (EDIIS) registry between 2011 and 2018. Depending on whether the injury was intentional, FFH patients who had fallen from a height of at least 1 m were divided into two groups: jumpers and fallers. Patient characteristics, organ damage, and death were compared between the two groups, and factors that significantly affected death were identified using multivariable logistic analysis.
Results Among 39,419 patients, 1,982 (5.0%) were jumpers. Of the jumpers, 977 (49.3%) were male, while 30,643 (81.9%) of fallers were male. The jumper group had the highest number of individuals in their 20s, with the number decreasing as age increased. In contrast, the number of individuals in the faller group rose until reaching their 50s, after which it declined. More thoracoabdominal, spinal, and brain injuries were found in jumpers. The in-hospital mortality of jumpers and fallers was 832 (42.0%) and 1,268 (3.4%), respectively. Intentionality was a predictor of in-hospital mortality, along with sex, age, and fall height, with an odds ratio of 7.895 (95% confidence interval, 6.746–9.240).
Conclusion Jumpers and fallers have different epidemiological characteristics, and jumpers experienced a higher degree of injury and mortality than fallers. Differentiated prevention and treatment strategies are needed for jumpers and fallers to reduce mortality in FFH patients.
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Criteria for Methods of Radio Frequency Scanning at Telecommunication Towers in Malaysia Based on Delphi-AHP Analysis Rosdin Abdul Kahar, Mohd Nizam Ab Rahman, Nizaroyani Saibani, Mohd Fais Mansor, Mirza Basyir Rodhuan Eng.2026; 7(1): 35. CrossRef
Objective We aimed to investigate the characteristics of frequent emergency department (ED) users in Korea.
Methods We analyzed the Korea Health Panel Study data of a sampled population from the 2005 Population Census of Korea data, and adults (age ≥18 years) who visited the ED at least once a year between 2014 and 2017 were included in the study. People who visited three or more times a year were classified as frequent users. We compared demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related factors between nonfrequent and frequent users. We used a multivariable logistic regression analysis to determine factors related to frequent ED visits. We also compared the characteristics of ED use in both nonfrequent and frequent users.
Results A total of 5,090 panels were included, comprising 6,853 visits. Frequent users were 333 (6.5% of all panels), and their ED visits were 1,364 (19.9% of all ED visits). In the multivariable regression analysis, medical aid coverage (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] of the National Health Service coverage, 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.40–0.75), unemployment (aOR of employment, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.56–0.91), prior ward admission in a year (aOR, 2.14; 95% CI, 1.67–2.75), and frequent outpatient department use (aOR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.35–2.20) were associated with frequent use. Moreover, frequent users visited the ED of public hospitals more often than than nonfrequent users (19.2% vs. 9.8%). Medical problems rather than injury/poisoning were the more common reasons for visiting the ED (84.5% vs. 71.2%).
Conclusion We found that frequent ED users were likely to be those with socioeconomic disadvantage or with high demand for medical service. Based on this study, further studies on interventions to reduce frequent ED use are required for better ED services.
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The profile of frequent user of a Multipurpose Emergency Service: an archipelago reality Alexandra Torres de Medeiros, José Luís Santos Picanço, Nuno Miguel Faria Araújo Cogitare Enfermagem.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
Characteristics of consecutive versus non-consecutive frequent emergency medical services transport to a single emergency department Sun Hyu Kim, Hyeji Lee, Fadwa Alhalaiqa PLOS ONE.2024; 19(5): e0301337. CrossRef
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Objective Smart glasses can provide sonographers with real-time ultrasound images. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the utility of smart-glasses for ultrasound-guided peripheral venous access.
Methods In this randomized, crossover-design, simulation study, 12 participants were recruited from the emergency department residents at a university hospital. Each participant attempted ultrasound-guided peripheral venous access on a pediatric phantom at intervals of 5 days with (glasses group) or without (non-glasses group) the use of smart glasses. In the glasses group, participants confirmed the ultrasound image through the lens of the smart glasses. In the non-glasses group, participants confirmed the ultrasound image through the display viewer located next to the phantom. Procedure time was regarded as the primary outcome, while secondary outcomes included the number of head movements for the participant, number of skin punctures, number of needle redirections, and subjective difficulty.
Results No significant differences in procedural time were observed between the groups (non-glasses group: median time, 15.5 seconds; interquartile range [IQR], 10.3 to 27.3 seconds; glasses group: median time, 19.0 seconds; IQR, 14.3 to 39.3 seconds; P=0.58). The number of head movements was lower in the glasses group than in the non-glasses group (glasses group: median, 0; IQR, 0 to 0; non-glasses group: median, 4; IQR, 3 to 5; P<0.01). No significant differences in the number of skin punctures or needle restrictions were observed between the groups.
Conclusion Our results indicate that smart-glasses may aid in ensuring ultrasound-guided peripheral venous access by reducing head movements.
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Augmented reality for point-of-care ultrasound-guided vascular access in pediatric patients using Microsoft HoloLens 2: a preliminary evaluation Gesiren Zhang, Trong N. Nguyen, Hadi Fooladi-Talari, Tyler Salvador, Kia Thomas, Daragh Crowley, R. Scott Dingeman, Raj Shekhar Journal of Medical Imaging.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
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Objective We aimed to investigate the factors related to satisfaction with the pediatric emergency department service in Korea.
Methods This study examined data from the Korea Health Panel Data from 2010 to 2012. Pediatric patients who visited the emergency department at least once between 2010 and 2012 in Korea were included. Data were collected on patient satisfaction with the emergency department service, and factors related to the patient characteristics, emergency department service process, and medical institution. We compared the dissatisfied and satisfied groups, and calculated the odds ratios for satisfaction according to each variable.
Results A total of 1,505 emergency department visits from 947 pediatric patients during the 3-year period were analyzed. We estimated that about 79.5% of patients in the population were satisfied. The odds of expressing satisfaction were higher among males than in females, and among patients who were hospitalized after emergency department treatment compared to those who were transferred to another hospital. Conversely, the odds of expressing satisfaction were lower among patients who had a chronic disease, a financial source other than National Health Insurance, experienced hospitalization within 1 year.
Conclusion Our study results might be helpful for establishing a satisfactory pediatric emergency medical service system. In the future, further prospective studies evaluating the causal relationships between the relevant factors and patient satisfaction are warranted.
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