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College student volunteers (n = 142) completed a 580 km road march for 21 consecutive days. Each volunteer carried a backpack that weighed 14.1 ± 1.4 kg on the average. We investigated the incidence and location of blisters associated with the road march using a foot map along with other injuries. Overall, 95.1% of the subjects (135 of 142) sustained one or more injuries. All injured subjects had foot blisters, and 18% had other foot injuries. The most common locations of blister development were the right 5th toe (61%) and the left 5th toe (57%). The little toes seem to have been subjected to the greatest friction and shearing forces. March-related injuries, excluding foot injuries, were ankle pain (12.7%), knee pain (12.7%) and Achilles tendon pain (7.7%). Six subjects (4.2%) needed extra medical treatment for more than 2 weeks prior to returning to their daily lives after completion of the march due to associated injuries. The present study observed a very high incidence rate of injuries (95.1%) associated with the 580 km university students grand road march. These injuries posed an obstacle against completion of the road march and against returning to daily life. Active preventive interventions such as physical therapy and customized reinforced shoes and education program are recommended for reducing incidence rate and severity of injuries.

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The current study was conducted to make pre-post comparisons of education done for 119 emergency medical technicians (EMT) on the patient assessment performance. The data are expected to offer applicable training methods and educational resources for emergency medical services. Twenty six EMT from four cities and provinces participated in the study, which was carried out from 14 to 17 December, 2015. The technicians performed a patient assessment and marked reports on simulated patients. In the course of the assessment, a pre-post evaluation of education was done using a checklist regarding the respective symptoms, such as headache, chest pain, and dyspnea. The median value (quartile value) was used as the descriptive analysis. While patient assessment scores marked 66 points (54.00-80.25) out of 100 (p<0.01) before education, there was a significant increase in the after-education scores, which reached 88.5 points (80.00-93.00). The patient assessment performances revealed a significant increase (p<.0.01) in 5 chest pain, 7 headache, and 9 dyspnea items after education. Similarly, there was an increase in wanting to meet the EMT again scale in regards to categories involved in developing positive relations with patients. Moreover, the adequacy in the patient condition reports all marked a significant increase (p<0.01) in assessment categories. The present study shows that education based on simulation practices are necessary for improvements in patient assessment performance of 119 EMT. Therefore, practical and systematic patient assessment educations may serve as a prerequisite. Further opportunities should be provided for the EMT consistently.