Expert opinion on evidence after 2020 Korean Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Guidelines

Considerable evidence has been published since the 2020 Korean Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Guidelines were reported. The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) also publishes the Consensus on CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science with Treatment Recommendations (CoSTR) summary annually. This review provides expert opinions by reviewing the recent evidence on CPR and ILCOR treatment recommendations. The authors reviewed the CoSTR summary published by ILCOR in 2021 and 2022. PICO (population, intervention, comparator, outcome) questions for each topic were reviewed using a systemic or scoping review methodology. Two experts were appointed for each question and reviewed the topic independently. Topics suggested by the reviewers for revision or additional description of the guidelines were discussed at a consensus conference. Forty-three questions were reviewed, including 15 on basic life support, seven on advanced life support, two on pediatric life support, 11 on neonatal life support, six on education and teams, one on first aid, and one related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Finally, the current Korean CPR Guideline was maintained for 28 questions, and expert opinions were suggested for 15 questions.

A study on the discharge against medical advice in the emergency room from the communication perspective / 의료커뮤니케이션

Background@#: It is called a discharge against medical advice (DAMA) that a patient needs continuous medical care, but leaving the hospital contrary to a doctor’s medical advice. DAMA also occurs in the emergency room, and sometimes it can make the patient's symptoms and states worse or even lead to death. @*Methods@#: @*Results@#: There are various reasons for deciding to DAMA. Among those reasons, the poor communication skills of medical staff can cause the disease insight of patient to be lowered, create unsatisfactory medical services, and create distrust for the medical staff. @*Conclusion@#: Medical staff can lower the frequency of DAMA through following patient-oriented communication : listening to the patient's symptoms and information, talking to the patient in an easy-to-understand language, and conducting two-way communication with appropriate feedback.

Recurrent Pulseless Ventricular Tachycardia Induced by Commotio Cordis Treated with Therapeutic Hypothermia / 대한구급학회지

The survival rate of commotio cordis is low, and there is often associated neurological disability if return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) can be achieved. We report a case of commotio cordis treated with therapeutic hypothermia (TH) that demonstrated a favorable outcome. A 16-year-old female was transferred to our emergency department (ED) for collapse after being struck in the chest with a dodgeball. She has no history of heart problems. She was brought to our ED with pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT), and ROSC was achieved with defibrillation. She was comatose at our ED and was treated with TH at a target temperature of 33degrees C for 24 hours. After transfer to the intensive care unit, pulseless VT occurred, and defibrillation was performed twice. She recovered to baseline neurologic status with the exception of some memory difficulties.

Emergency Medical Services in Disasters / 한양의대학술지

Disasters, or mass casualty incidents, occurring in modern history differ from those occurring in even the recent past. In previous times, disasters were mostly the result of natural causes such as earthquakes or floods. Currently, multiple casualty incidents are often the result of human actions such as vehicular accidents involving many vehicles with multiple operators, passengers and collateral victims, terror attacks and acts of war, radiation accidents, toxic chemical releases, and pandemic infectious agent exposures. Especially, events involving accidental and intentional exposures of chemical, biological, radiological/nuclear materials, often abbreviated as CBR or CBRN events present unique challenges to the healthcare system in caring for the victims. In these mass casualty incidents, a fully comprehensive, coordinated team response involving many different components of the community healthcare system need to be mobilized to effectively meet the modern challenge of CBRN events. Necessary components of a modern emergency response include training for prompt triage, decontamination, detoxification, emergency medical treatment, as well as providing appropriate transport to the proper medical treatment facility. Meeting these challenges requires maintaining ongoing communications between agencies charged with meeting the disaster to allow acquisition of information and location for the patients, transfer the information to both the Central Medical Emergency Response Center and the designated hospital. While sharing this information was problematic in the past, modern wireless communications and information technologies provide convenient means for the rapid sharing of important patient data and current situational details. Finally, improving modern disaster response requires the development of a disaster response plan, ongoing training in implementing the plan including disaster scenario simulation, and budgeting to acquire the necessary equipment involved for the emergency response personnel to meet the presenting crisis.

Satisfaction, and Factors Influencing Satisfaction, with Internal Environment and Safety of Emergency Medical Service Ambulances in Korea: Pilot Study of Patients and Guardians

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to assess the satisfaction, and factors influencing the satisfaction, of patients and guardians with the internal environment and safety of ambulances in Korea. METHODS: Participants were patients and guardians who were transported by public emergency medical service ambulance to an emergency medical center in June 2015. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. The degree of satisfaction with the ambulance was categorized as satisfaction (Likert scale 4 or 5) or dissatisfaction (Likert scale 1 or 2). The questionnaires comprised 3 categories: 1) demographics, 2) internal environment (space, light, temperature, humidity, soundproof, and odor), and 3) safety (vibration, leaning of body, and falling objects). RESULTS: Among 84 cases, 80.5% of patients and 83.7% of guardians gave positive responses regarding general satisfaction with the internal environment of the ambulance, but these percentages were lower regarding adequacy of space and light. Four factors had a statistically significantly influence on the degree of satisfaction: 1) sex of guardian regarding adequacy of space, 2) number of guardians regarding general satisfaction, 3) severity of patient regarding guardian's satisfaction with space, 4) diagnosis of patient (trauma vs non-trauma) regarding vibration during transport (all p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Overall, patients and guardians were satisfied with the internal environment and safety of ambulances except for adequacy of space and light.

A Case Report of a First Sulfoximine Class of Insecticide, Sulfoxaflor Poisoning

Sulfoxaflor is the first insecticide belonging to the sulfoximine class and is efficient against sap-feeding insects that are resistant to other insecticides. Sulfoxaflor acts as a neurotoxin to the central nervous system of insects compared with very low toxicity to mammalian. We report on a case of a 67-year-old male who ingested insecticide and received conservative treatment for mild metabolic acidosis and gastrointestinal symptoms.

Recurrent Pulseless Ventricular Tachycardia Induced by Commotio Cordis Treated with Therapeutic Hypothermia / 대한중환자의학회지

The survival rate of commotio cordis is low, and there is often associated neurological disability if return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) can be achieved. We report a case of commotio cordis treated with therapeutic hypothermia (TH) that demonstrated a favorable outcome. A 16-year-old female was transferred to our emergency department (ED) for collapse after being struck in the chest with a dodgeball. She has no history of heart problems. She was brought to our ED with pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT), and ROSC was achieved with defibrillation. She was comatose at our ED and was treated with TH at a target temperature of 33degrees C for 24 hours. After transfer to the intensive care unit, pulseless VT occurred, and defibrillation was performed twice. She recovered to baseline neurologic status with the exception of some memory difficulties.