Operational status of Korean emergency medical institutions in preparation for infectious disease outbreak after COVID-19 pandemic: 1 year later

¹Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea
²Department of Emergency Medicine, Inha University Hospital, Incheon, Korea
³Department of Emergency Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea
⁴Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea
⁵Department of Emergency Medicine, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, Korea
⁶Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence

Sungbae Moon ,Tel: 053-420-6400, Fax: 053-428-2820, Email: snbaem@gmail.com,

Received: October 17, 2022; Revised: October 25, 2022 Accepted: October 30, 2022. Published online: December 31, 2023.

ABSTRACT

Objective:
A regional pandemic may result in a crisis in providing emergency care to the community and disrupt emergency medical services. This study examined how the recent coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic impacted emergency department (ED) preparedness nationwide by describing the current ED operations.
Method:
A cross-sectional survey was developed and distributed nationwide to emergency physicians. All 57 severe emergency care centers and 35 selected local emergency medical institutions nationwide were invited to participate. The survey consisted of basic ED information, infection guidelines, and operations for ED, preemptive pretriage area details, ED quarantine area details, cohort isolation and preemptive quarantine area, and difficulties or problems in treating infectious patients.
Results:
Forty-nine severe emergency care centers (86%) and 24 (68.6%) local emergency medical institutions answered the survey. Most EDs (95.9% and 91.7% of severe emergency care centers and local emergency medical institutions, respectively) operated under infection guidelines. In addition, 51% and 72.3% of preemptive pretriage areas in severe emergency care centers and local emergency medical institutions, respectively, placed doctors. Both negative and normal pressurized ED quarantine areas were more placed in severe emergency care centers (3 and 3 vs. 0.5 and 1 of severe emergency care centers and local emergency medical institutions, respectively). In severe emergency care centers, the preemptive quarantine areas were operated more than the cohort isolation areas (63.3% vs. 40.8%). Common difficulties expressed by EDs were delayed polymerase chain reaction test results (4.5 and 4.1 of severe emergency care centers and local emergency medical institutions, respectively) and a fear of infection with ED shutdown (4.4 and 4.1 of severe emergency care centers and local emergency medical institutions, respectively).
Conclusion:
This study surveyed how ED care was changed by the pandemic and how current resources are redeployed nationwide. These results may be used as a basis for future ED pandemic preparedness.

Key words: Pandemics; COVID-19; Emergency preparedness; Triage; Quarantine