Earticle

This study investigates the deployment and utilization of Information and Communication Technology-enabled Emergency Medical Services (ICT-EMS) in North Chungcheong Province, South Korea, with an emphasis on community-level intervention. This study analyzed the impact of this system on patient transfer efficiency and hospital selection processes using semi-structured interviews. Interviews with sixteen participants reveal strengths such as enhanced record-keeping and improved data accessibility, particularly beneficial during mass casualty incidents. However, technical issues, manpower shortages, and environmental challenges pose significant hurdles. Despite these challenges, ongoing enhancements aim to streamline the system and expand its coverage. The study provides valuable insights into the integration of technology in emergency response systems, emphasizing the need for continued improvements to optimize efficiency and effectiveness. Future research should explore broader evaluations and stakeholder perspectives to further enhance ICT-EMS implementation.

Purpose: This study aims to identify the current status of elderly suicide in Busan Metropolitan City based on the statistics of the injury surveillance system, and to derive high-risk factors. Methods: This descriptive survey study used statistics on the elderly from Statistics Korea, cause of death statistics, death statistics from the Korea National Police Agency, emergency statistics from the National Fire Agency, and the regional safety index from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Results: The high-risk factors for suicide among the elderly in Busan were living alone, aged 80 years or older, men, having a spouse, and being unemployed. The most common cause of suicide was physical illness, the most common high-risk location was home, and the most common suicide mechanism was hanging. The most frequent periods of suicide were found to be when many people are with family or during events. Conclusion: This study analyzes the current situation of elderly suicide in Busan and identifies high-risk factors, which is expected to be used to develop policies and programs to prevent elderly suicide.

Suicide is a prevalent global health concern, particularly in South Korea, which has the highest suicide rate among OECD countries. Previous research has shown that various factors are associated with an acute increase in the suicide rate among South Korean adolescents. This literature review discusses risk factors of suicidality that could potentially impact suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among youth, focusing on family context, stigma of mental illness, extreme academic pressure, and wang-ta bullying. Additionally, this review explores current status of youth suicidality and the interventions in South Korea, such as mental health screenings, hotline call services, internet-based counseling, and Suicide CARE. The review also proposes interventions to prevent suicides in youth that could be utilized both within and outside of schools; Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), Youth mental health seminars, and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Curriculum. The study highlights current efforts to reduce the suicide risks in South Korea nationwide and the importance of future research.

Disaster and safety information is important for citizens in disaster situations as this assists the situational assessment and critical decision-making. Therefore, the central government in South Korea built and operates an emergency and disaster alert system called the Cell Broadcasting System (CBS) and local governments also established various disaster safety information delivery systems. However, these systems are primarily designed for the general citizens without any difficulties in reading and understanding these alerts or disaster and safety information. The elderly and disabled individuals are often referred to as ‘disaster-vulnerable populations’ or ‘disaster-vulnerable people’ and may encounter difficulties in receiving and understanding such disaster safety information promptly and effectively. This study focuses on the information delivery channels operated by the city of Seoul Metropolitan Government, aiming to identify the shortcomings of the current disaster information delivery channels. Furthermore, we examined relevant international cases and policies to extract the implications. This study proposes improvement measures to effectively deliver disaster information to disaster-vulnerable populations.

Due to recent transfer of the authority to investigate North Korea's counterintelligence and spying from the National Intelligence Service(NIS) to the National Police, the necessity for North Korea's Operation toward South Korea Operation to be closely examined has been emphasized to protect the liberal democratic order and national security, with urgent needs of studies on blockade of North Korea's Operation and practical measures. Recent SPY incidents in South Korea have taken a different direction than in the past, which currently indiscriminately took root in all walks of life, from local organizations to cadres of unions and leftist civil society organizations. As the NIS's 60 years of counterintelligence know-how, overseas sources, and networks are at risk of being lost, this study aims to examine in detail North Korea's recent counterintelligence and espionage activities based on Kim Jong-un's "new strategic policy toward the South" and "uncompromising military adventurism," and to explore alternatives and improvements to block North Korea's operations based on Kim Jong-un’s ‘new strategic policy toward South Korea’ and ‘uncompromising military adventurism.’

Infection control nurses (ICNs) play a crucial role in infection control (IC) activities but often experience increased job stress due to excessive work and the psychological burden on IC. Burnout, identified as a significant factor influencing nurse turnover, has been insufficiently explored among ICNs. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify factors affecting the burnout of ICNs. This study was conducted as a descriptive survey. Participants were 148 ICNs in South Korea.. Burnout differed significantly depending on infection control experience, hospital type, and the number of beds. In addition, the level of burnout was negatively correlated with hospital types and self-efficacy, and positively correlated with the number of beds, job stress, and fatigue. The most influential factor was job stress (β=.38, p<.001), followed by self-efficacy (β=-.32, p<.001), the number of beds (β=.20, p=.023), and fatigue (β=.12, p=.039). These parameters, predictors of burnout in ICNs, comprised 56% of the explanatory power for burnout (F= 36.57, p<.001). The significance of this study was to identify the degree of burnout of ICNs and the most significant factor in their burnout. Management strategies to reduce ICN’s job stress are needed.