Visualization of analysis information on emergency patient occurrence location and transfer hospital using geographic information system

¹Department of Emergency Medicine, Kangwon National University Hospital, Chuncheon, Korea
²Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea
³Department of Geography Education, College of Education, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea

Correspondence

Taek Geun Ohk ,Tel: 033-258-2438, Fax: 033-258-2451, Email: otgotg11@gmail.com,

Received: February 10, 2023; Revised: May 31, 2023 Accepted: July 4, 2023. Published online: December 31, 2023.

ABSTRACT

Objective:
Easy-to-understand information on emergency patient transportation and emergency medical resources is required to operate emergency medical resources appropriately. This study evaluated emergency patient transport routes using a geographic information system (GIS) and converted them into visual information to understand the current status of emergency medical resource use in the region.
Method:
The basic data used in this study were collected from the 119 safety centers in Gangwon-do, South Korea, under the fire-fighting headquarters in Gangwon-do from January 2017 to December 2020. The data were analyzed using the geographic information system and converted to visual information.
Results:
The number of patients with cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and traffic accidents was 12,944. Of these, 9,393 patients (72.6%) were transported from Chuncheon city, and 3,551 patients (27.4%) were transported out of Chuncheon city. The number of patients with cardiovascular diseases during the study period was 1,219 (9.4%); 782 patients (64.2%) were transported to the K-EMC (emergency medical center), and 437 patients (35.8%) were transported to the H-EMC. For cerebrovascular disease, 913 patients (7.1%) were transported to the EMC of Chuncheon city, with 585 (64.1%) K-EMC and 328 (35.9%) H-EMC patients. The number of traffic accident patients was 1,266 (9.8%). Five hundred and forty (42.7%) and 726 (57.3%) patients were transported to the K-EMC and H-EMC, respectively.
Conclusion:
The adequacy of facilities, equipment, and human resources required to treat cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases in K-EMC and severe trauma in H-EMC needs to be reviewed.

Key words: Emergencies; Geographic information systems; Cardiovascular; Cerebrovascular; Traffic accidents