Analysis of the 119 emergency situation control center usage including dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation instructions

¹Ajou University Graduate School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea
²Department of Emergency Medicine, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea
³Department of Emergency Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital, Bucheon, Korea
⁴Department of Emergency Medical Technology, Dong-Eui Institute of Technology, Busan, Korea
⁵Department of Emergency Medical Technology, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea

Correspondence

Sangchun Choi ,Tel: 031-219-7750, Fax: 031-219-7760, Email: avenue59@ajou.ac.kr,

Received: April 2, 2018; Revised: June 10, 2018 Accepted: July 16, 2018. Published online: August 31, 2018.

ABSTRACT

Objective:
Analyses of the status of 119 emergency situation control center (119 ESCC) usage are lacking. Therefore, this study investigated the status of the 119 ESCC usage, including dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DA-CPR) instructions.
Method:
The emergency activity daily reports and emergency instruction sheets of 119 ESCC from January to December 2016 were reviewed. For more accurate status analysis, the computerized data of the 1339 Emergency Medical Information Center from January to December 2011 were also reviewed.
Results:
In 2016, the total usage of the 119 ESCC was 1,393,876 calls, which was 27.8% lower than the 1,930,977 calls in 2011. Of the 1,393,876 eligible calls, the most common call was hospital guidance (n=743,799, 53.4%), followed by first aid (n=397,620, 28.5%), disease consultation (n=150,128, 10.8%), medical oversight (n=81,174, 5.8%), and interhospital transfer (n=5,123, 0.4%). Regarding the user number per 10,000 persons, Daejeon was the greatest at 57.2, whereas Changwon was the lowest at 11.5. A total number of DA-CPR was 19,439. The time from the call to chest compression were 173±88.6 seconds in the subjects having previous cardiopulmonary resuscitation training and 184.0± 88.2 in the subjects having no such training (P<0.001).
Conclusion:
The ratio of first aid instructions, including DA-CPR, among total usage of the 119 ESCC increased but the overall usage of the 119 ESCC decreased. Therefore, further efforts will be needed to improve the quality and professionality of the information provided through the operation of 119 ESCC.

Key words: Emergency medical services; Heart arrest; Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; Emergency medical dispatcher