Assessment of an Emergency Medicine System for Radiation Accidents in Korea: A State Survey of the Workers Involved the Medical Response to Radiation Accidents

You Yeon Choi, Mihyun Yang, Younghyun Lee, Eunil Lee, Young Woo Jin and Ki Moon Seong
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You Yeon Choi: National Radiation Emergency Medical Center (NREMC), Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), Seoul 01812, Korea
Mihyun Yang: National Radiation Emergency Medical Center (NREMC), Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), Seoul 01812, Korea
Younghyun Lee: National Radiation Emergency Medical Center (NREMC), Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), Seoul 01812, Korea
Eunil Lee: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Graduate School of Public Health, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea
Young Woo Jin: National Radiation Emergency Medical Center (NREMC), Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), Seoul 01812, Korea
Ki Moon Seong: National Radiation Emergency Medical Center (NREMC), Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), Seoul 01812, Korea

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 5, 1-11

Abstract: Radiation emergency medicine systems are operated around the world to provide special care for the injured that require immediate medical attention in accidents. The objective of this survey was to evaluate people’s perception of those who design the emergency medical plan for radiation accidents and those who supervise it in Korea. A questionnaire survey was conducted on the people involved in a regulatory system for medical response in a radiation emergency. Of 150 survey recipients, 133 (88.7%) completed the survey, including 92 workers and 41 inspectors. The respondents expressed the view that the national emergency medical plan is prepared above the average level using a Likert-style scale of 1 to 5 (mean = 3.55, SD = 0.74). Interestingly, using the Mann–Whitney U test, it could be shown that inspectors evaluated the emergency medical system for radiation accidents more strictly in all of the questions than the licensee workers, especially on radiation medical emergency preparedness ( p = 0.004) and the governmental regulatory policy for radiation safety ( p = 0.007). For a more efficient system of radiation emergency medicine, licensee workers prioritized the workforce, whereas inspectors favored laws and regulations for safety. The survey results show different perspectives between inspectors and licensee workers, which stem from the actual properties of each occupational role in the regulatory system for radiation medical emergency. These data could be utilized for communication and interaction with relevant people to improve the medical response preparedness against radiation accidents.

Keywords: emergency medicine system; radiation; licensee workers; inspectors; occupational role; regulatory system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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