Emergency medical services in response to the middle east respiratory syndrome outbreak in Korea

Abstract

After the 15 days from the first confirmed case of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in South Korea on May 20, 2015, the MERS infected case from emergency room (ER) was recognized. I provide the review of characteristics and prevention plan of re-outbreak of a MERS coronavirus at the ER in South Korea. Emergency medical services-related infections with MERS coronavirus have been reported 91 cases (49%) of total 186 cases in South Korea. The first patient was diagnosed with the ER and spent at least 3 days in a busy ER until he was admitted to an isolated room. The causes of MERS's spreading in ER are mainly due to emergency department (ED) overcrowding, long ED stay time, improper infection control system in ED, and a failure of emergency medical service coordination system in South Korea. Early and rapid detection of suspected infected patients with communicable diseases along with appropriate infection control system in ED, reducing the ED overcrowding and ER stay time would help to prevent the disease transmission in ED.