The emergency situation for students based on the statistical trends Japanese rural area<人文・社会科学>

Introduction: To clarify the characteristics and trends of medical emergencies during school activities by analyzing information from fire departments.Methods: From January 2009 to December 2013, all nine fire departments in Fukui Prefecture handled 856 emergencies at schools. We investigated these 856 cases by type of injury/illness.Results: During this 5-year period, emergency medical dispatch service was provided to 571 male students and 285 female students at schools, 643 (75.1%) of whom were elementary to high school students. Daily average dispatches were 0.51 cases on weekdays, 0.37 on Sundays, 0.31 on Saturdays, and 0.07 on holidays. Analysis of environmental factors revealed that class, extracurricular activity/competition, and other school-related activity had similar case numbers. Classification of injuries/symptoms by emergency type showed that the most common injury/symptom was wound and contusions in the general injury category, contusions and bone fracture in the athletic competition category, and seizure in the acute illness category.Discussion: In Fukui Prefecture, 2.2% (0.14/6.5) of all injury/illness cases on school premises required ambulance transport. Emergency dispatches to schools were requested frequently for incidents involving intense sport activities, distinguishing them from common emergency dispatches. Therefore, it is necessary for sport club coaches and staff to improve first-aid treatment skills.