Primary visit, transfer, and re-transfer to emergency department in patients with severe emergency diseases in Chungnam

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Regionalization is one of the principal subjects for the advancement of rural emergency medical service systems in South Korea. This study shows the characteristics of interhospital transfer and status of the incidence of three major emergency disorders (acute myocardial infarction [AMI], acute stroke, and severe trauma) in one local province. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted for patients with three major emergency disorders who visited emergency medical facilities in one local province from January 2013 to December 2015, on the basis of the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS) data. RESULTS: The incidence of three major emergency disorders had increased annually. Patients with each of these disorders tended to choose distinguishing methods of visiting emergency medical facilities. AMI patients tended to visited emergency medical facilities using private cars or on foot, while severe trauma patients usually visited by 119 ambulance, and acute stroke patients used 119 ambulance and private car in similar amounts. Overall, 65% of AMI patients were treated in intraregional medical facilities, but about 70% of acute stoke and severe trauma patients were transferred outside of the region. CONCLUSION: Because each of these disorders has an individual characteristic, it is difficult to expect a solution for the problems associated with emergency disorders just by assuring the availability of medical resources. Based on regionalization, a policy to provide the optimal treatment for those emergency disorders should be developed by planning public medical service systems based on the individual characteristics of emergency disorders, the standardized transfer plans of emergency patients and the assurance for mobilization and sharing of confined medical resources.