Medical Emergency Situations Research Articles

Training of Skills of Providing Assistance in Emergency Conditions to Dentists Using Anthropomorphic Simulation Robots

In the daily work of a dentist, situations often arise that require emergency care for urgent indications. According to researchers (Al-Turki O, Al-Hussyeen A, Al-Hammad N, Alhowaish L, Almaflehi N. Medical Emergencies In Dental Practice. J Dent Med Sci), emergency medical situations at a dental appointment occur on average once every two years. In addition, in recent years, there have been fatal cases during the provision of dental care, which certainly makes the problem relevant.

Spatial Analysis of Advanced Air Mobility in Rural Healthcare Logistics

The transportation of patients in emergency medical situations, particularly in rural areas, often faces significant challenges due to long travel distances and limited access to healthcare facilities. These challenges can result in critical delays in medical care, adversely affecting patient outcomes. Addressing this issue is essential for improving survival rates and health outcomes in underserved regions. This study explored the potential of advanced air mobility to enhance emergency medical services by reducing patient transport times through the strategic placement of vertiports. Using North Dakota as a case study, the research developed a GIS-based optimization workflow to identify optimal vertiport locations that maximize time savings. The study highlighted the benefits of strategic vertiport placement at existing airports and hospital heliports to minimize community disruption and leverage underutilized infrastructure. A key finding was that the optimized mixed-mode routes could reduce patient transport times by up to 21.8 min compared with drive-only routes, significantly impacting emergency response efficiency. Additionally, the study revealed that more than 45% of the populated areas experienced reduced ground travel times due to the integration of vertiports, highlighting the strategic importance of vertiport placement in optimizing emergency medical services. The research also demonstrated the replicability of the GIS-based optimization model for other regions, offering valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders in enhancing EMS through advanced air mobility solutions.

Medical kit delivery using Drone: Critical medical infrastructure solution for emergency medical situation

COVID-19 pandemic is a situation where every person is looking for solution towards disease. Once a person tested positive for COVID-19, he/she has to get admitted in hospital or home isolation as per the available resources and guidance by doctors and local authorities. The hospitals are equipped with necessary requirements for patients, but home isolation requires various daily usage medical equipment, medicines and data reporting. Authorities are struggling a lot to supply medical aids and other required necessary items to be delivered at home isolation persons. For such type of pandemic situation, we have proposed a Medical Kit Delivery Drone (MKDD) algorithm to deliver medical aids, lightweight equipment and data reports from hospitals to home isolations. The proposed algorithm is very well simulated in CupCarbon simulator and obtained results are compared with state-of-the-art algorithms like M63P–H7DM, GHSP-D-19-00119, MedART & PMC9451063. We observed that our proposed algorithm achieved the highest date rate in payload delivery time, payload weight, speed & maximum distance covered by various drones.

MEDICAL EMERGENCIES PREPAREDNESS IN DENTAL CLINIC AMONG POSTGRADUATE RESIDENTS IN NEPAL

Background: Serious medical emergencies in dental practices are generally rare (one in 3-5 years) but if it happens it is life threatening to the patient. Adequate knowledge and competency, training of the dental practitioners is necessary to avoid such life-threatening conditions. The study was conducted to assess the preparedness of medical emergencies among postgraduate dental students of Nepal. Methods: An online questionnaire based cross-sectional study was conducted among all post graduate dental students from all the dental colleges of Nepal. Pretested, validated, close ended questionnaire was used. Questionnaire consisted of twenty medical emergency situations and five questions regarding self-evaluation of training regarding the management of medical emergencies. Chi-square test was used to assess association between competency in managing medical emergency situations and years of academic experience during post-graduation. P- value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: More than 70% participants answered correct management of medical emergency situations. Almost 20% disagreed and 20% don’t know about the management of such situations. Only 28% received training in the management of medical emergencies during undergraduate dental program. More than 50% were moderately satisfied with their knowledge about medical emergencies. Conclusions: The results of the study showed that knowledge to handle commonly occurring medical emergencies was higher. Most of the participants did not attend any training regarding medical emergencies. And those who attended felt there is need for further training in the management of emergency medical cases in the dental chair.

Using smart grid infrastructure for authentication and data management in Internet of Medical Things

AbstractThe Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) has recently become the norm in medical operations and emergency situations. A physician or a medical personnel is interested in accessing the patients' data from remote locations using IoMT. The patients' medical management system should allow their doctors and family members to have access to the data, especially in emergency situations. Deploying sensor nodes and managing the large amount of medical data generated by these sensors require a system that provides protection against known security threats and a robust mechanism to recover when subjected to attacks. The proposed scheme that provides mutual authentication between user(s) and power generation nodes, and also mitigate against attacks by validating the identity during the authentication phase. Moreover, the proposed scheme, called Grid‐Based Authentication, uses the existing smart grid infrastructure for communications, which is a model of integrated infrastructure in a smart city. Furthermore, the simulation results show that our proposed scheme yields better performance in terms of average throughput, end to end delay, and computation and communication costs compared with other state‐of‐the‐art approaches.

Medical Crisis Preparedness: A Survey among Dentists of Rajasthan

Abstract Introduction: There are circumstances and procedures in a dental office that can give rise to a medical emergency situation. The inability to manage medical emergency situations can cause serious life-threatening issues for the patient, and it can also land the dentist in legal issues. A basic understanding and preparedness about medical emergencies and timely management techniques can be life-saving. Aim and Objectives: To analyze the conception of medical emergency and basic life support (BLS) among dentists of Rajasthan, India. Materials and Methods: This is a web-based survey which is conducted using a questionnaire comprising 22 questions to collect the data pertaining to demographic details, understanding, and preparedness concerning medical emergencies and BLS. The questionnaire was distributed through Google form to 356 dentists who are registered under the Rajasthan Dental Council. The responses to the questionnaire so obtained were analyzed. Results: The results showed that 49.8% of the dentists have not attended any workshop on emergency training or management program in the last 5 years. Regarding awareness about emergency drugs and equipment, 15% of them answered that they do not have any emergency drugs or kits in their workplace. Conclusion: The study results highlight insufficient knowledge and preparedness in the surveyed dentist and the importance of including structured BLS training in the dental curriculum.

Measuring satisfaction with dental education among dentists and dental students in Croatia: A cross-sectional study.

The study aimed to determine satisfaction level with the quality of education among dental students and dentists in Croatia based on the acquired knowledge and clinical and soft skills. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among 533 dentists and dental students. The questionnaire consisted of four sections with closed-ended questions. The first section included personal and professional data, whereas the second to fourth sections assessed satisfaction with learned basic dental, professional technical or clinal and interpersonal social or soft skills on a 5-point Likert scale. The data were analysed using the Mann-Whitney U-test and linear regression analysis. The significance level was set at .05. When comparing satisfaction scores between dentists and dental students in terms of basic dental knowledge and skills learned, students showed higher satisfaction scores for the categories of "Emergency Medical Situations" (p = .005) and "Ergonomic Principles of Work" (p = .004). Dentists, on the other hand, showed higher satisfaction for the categories "Selection and use of local anaesthetics and local antibiotics" (p = .005, p = .026; respectively). For the type of technical skills from the different areas of dentistry, dentists were most satisfied with "Oral Surgery" (4.26 ± 0.85), while students were most satisfied with "Oral Medicine" (4.29 ± 0.89). Finally, when comparing satisfaction scores with social skills, dentists had lower satisfaction scores in all categories studied (p ≤ .05). Dental students showed higher overall satisfaction than dentists. The most significant satisfaction was expressed in technical skills learned, and the most considerable dissatisfaction was recorded in the unmeasurable skills category focused on "Career management".

The Effect Of Snakebite On Hemodynamic Disorders Of The Heart In Adults And Pregnant Women

A snake bite is a natural defense response from a snake and can be an emergency medical situation. Snakes have a venom consisting of various proteins that can affect the functioning of the human body. The venom structure in snake venom varies between different species of snakes. Knowing the effect of snakebite on hemodynamic disorders of the heart in adults and pregnant women. This study is a Systematic Review that applies the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) method, which is a systematic approach that follows appropriate research steps and protocols. The result of this study is the association of Snakebite with Hemodynamic Disorders of the Heart in Adult Patients and Pregnant Women" showing a major focus on heart disorders, infections, muscle and bone necrosis due to poisonous snake bites in developing countries, especially in children. Snake bites can cause immediate cardiovascular effects such as anaphylactic reactions, electrolyte disturbances, to cardiogenic shock and cardiac arrest in severe cases. Effective treatment for osteomyelitis and cardiogenic shock due to snakebites involves extensive surgical debridement and antibiotic therapy tailored to culture results. The duration of therapy varies based on the type of infection, with longer treatments for chronic infections. Adequate debridement is key to successful treatment, and a variety of surgical methods can be used, including open surgery, arthroscopy, or puncture/aspiration and flushing

Knowledge of handling medical emergencies among general dental practitioners pan India: a cross-sectional survery

BackgroundMedical emergency situations in dental clinics have been contemplated to be an issue in most of the countries by reason of dentist’s lack of knowledge and preparedness to attend emergency situations in dental offices. The aim of this paper is to observe the knowledge, attitude, and perceived confidence of the general dental practitioners regarding emergency medical care and its practical application. Questionnaire on knowledge assessment was circulated among 500 dentists using printed questionnaire formats and various social media platforms. The questionnaire included details on treating hypertensive patients, cardiopulmonary resuscitation training, accessibility of medical emergency equipments in the dental clinics, prevalence of medical emergency cases in the dental office and the self-assessed competence to handle medical emergency situations in the dental clinics. Data was surveyed and scrutinized using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 17 (SPSS Inc., Chicago IL). Descriptive statistics was tabulated and Chi square tests was applied.Findings500 general dental practitioners pan India were involved in the study (294 were females and 207 were males). They were grouped into different age groups (20–30 yrs, 30–40 yrs, 40–50 yrs, 50 and above) and experience (0–5 yrs, 5–10 yrs and more than 10 years). 279 participants did not attend any medical emergency training whereas, 222 participants from all groups attended training program. It was observed that with increased experience in the field, the knowledge, awareness and confidence to treat medical emergency situation in the dental clinics was better. Dentists should update themselves from time-to-time with the latest technologies in the field and need to attend training programs to handle any medical emergency situations in the dental offices. Medical emergencies in a dental clinic can be encountered at any point of time and the clinician should have apt knowledge in handling such situations. Majority of the dentists feel subdued in managing medical situations in dental offices. Training and workshops for handling medical situations in the dental offices should be mandated at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. This will help the dentist to shape one’s confidence in managing such situations without apprehension. Availability of proper infrastructure and equipments is recommended in every dental clinics so as to ease the handling of the situation.ConclusionThis paper enlightens the need of basic life support training on regular basis among the dentists to improve the competence among them and to improve the confidence in handling such situations.

Prevalence of living wills among older adults in Germany.

Living wills regulate medical decisions in emergency situations. Those who create a living will can have it registered voluntarily in the Central Register of Lasting Powers of Attorney. Little is known about the general prevalence of living wills. The German Ageing Survey is an ongoing, population-representative study. 4,185 people aged 50 and older were surveyed about living wills in 2020/2021. 44.8 % of people aged 50 and older have a living will, women more often than men (50.1 % vs. 39.2 %), older people more often than middle-aged people. Educational differences do not exist. Living wills increase the autonomy in medical emergency situations because the patient's wishes are specified in written form. People of all age groups should inform themselves about the significance of living wills and should seek advice about the contents, for example from the general practitioner or one's own health insurance.

Cloud-Based Digital Twins’ Storage in Emergency Healthcare

In a medical emergency situation, real-time patient data sharing may improve the survivability of a patient. In this paper, we explore how Digital Twin (DT) technology can be used for real-time data storage and processing in emergency healthcare. We investigated various enabling technologies, including cloud platforms, data transmission formats, and storage file formats, to develop a feasible DT storage solution for emergency healthcare. Through our analysis, we found Amazon AWS to be the most suitable cloud platform due to its sophisticated real-time data processing and analytical tools. Additionally, we determine that the MQTT protocol is suitable for real-time medical data transmission, and FHIR is the most appropriate medical file storage format for emergency healthcare situations. We propose a cloud-based DT storage solution, in which real-time medical data are transmitted to AWS IoT Core, processed by Kinesis Data Analytics, and stored securely in AWS HealthLake. Despite the feasibility of the proposed solution, challenges such as insufficient access control, lack of encryption, and vendor conformity must be addressed for successful practical implementation. Future work may involve Hyperledger Fabric technology and HTTPS protocol to enhance security, while the maturation of DT technology is expected to resolve vendor conformity issues. By addressing these challenges, our proposed DT storage solution has the potential to improve data accessibility and decision-making in emergency healthcare settings.

Paramedic perspectives of job stress: Qualitative analysis of high-stress, high-stakes emergency medical situations

The time from when an ambulance paramedic receives the 911 alarm notification until they have determined the differential diagnosis of a patient is highly stressful. During this time, there is a high demand placed on the paramedic, and they have a low level of control. Recent advances in prehospital care that place more responsibility on paramedics have exacerbated this high-stress phenomenon. Twenty paramedics from across the United States were interviewed and evaluated using descriptive phenomenology to better understand one of the most stressful moments of high-stakes decision-making that paramedics regularly face. Using descriptive phenomenology, we identified six categories in the paramedics' interview responses: pressure, overwhelm, emotional extremes (with sub-categories of adrenaline rush and time-dilation), dissociation, multi-tasking, and disconnect. This analysis of the paramedic's lived experience of this high-stress, high-stakes phenomenon provides insight into how paramedics experience the unique stress of this phenomenon. This understanding is key to elucidating the effects of this acute stress that may impact the judgment and, ultimately, the care performed by the paramedic. Both early- and late-career paramedics from thirteen different states in all regions of the United States were interviewed. Further qualitative data from paramedics from a diverse range of regions and backgrounds are essential to identify ways in which to ameliorate the negative effects of acute stress experienced by paramedics. Addressing such issues will reduce turnover and burnout among paramedics.

COUNT: Blockchain framework for resource accountability in e-healthcare

The progress of sensor devices, digital communication, and computing techniques enhances the functionalities of e-healthcare, where the medical facilities are manageable based on the Internet. Now a days, e-healthcare not only helps in disease diagnosis, or tele-medicine, but also implies to general medical scope and medical resource management. Thus, Internet-of-Medical Thing (IoMT) becomes an umbrella term to connect e-healthcare, tele-medicine, and medical supply chain management. In the recent past, the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has shown the loopholes in the existing medical systems such as the mismanagement of medical resources and the unavailability of the basic requirements for patients. The medical infrastructure urges for the new frameworks to handle accountability and transparent governance in a medical emergency situation. This motivates us to address medical resource accountability in e-healthcare.In the present work, we introduce the first resource accountability framework to balance the demand–supply of medical facilities in an e-healthcare and IoMT ecosystem. Our solution is based on blockchain and we call it bloCkchained framework for resOUrce accouNTability (COUNT). We use a customized Proof of Vote (PoV) for consensus in COUNT. We call this consensus COUNT-PoV, which is another direction of novelty in our solution. The blocks in the proposed COUNT contain the resource requirements and their availability–production–supply status. Multiple stakeholders are involved in the process based on providing pre-attained credentials; thus, COUNT supports consortium blockchain. Existing literature shows a number of studies for blockchain-based frameworks for e-healthcare; however, those works do not address the accountability and transparency issues of medical e-governance and balancing the demand–supply of the medical facilities/resources. Therefore, our proposed COUNT is beneficial for e-healthcare and IoMTs. We use signcryption process to reduce the complexity of the cryptographic processes, which is an add-on to the contribution. We evaluate our proposed framework based on the Hyperledger Caliper benchmark test with latency, throughput, and resource consumption. Additionally, we also analyse the cost of the implementation. The comparative analysis of our consensus with other stake-based consensus protocols on the COUNT framework shows that our consensus, COUNT-PoV is efficient and suitable for the use of e-healthcare and IoMTs. Moreover, being a generic framework, COUNT is helpful for the e-governance of medical facilities, the vaccination process, and COVID passports.

Update 2022: interdisciplinary statement on airway management with supraglottic airway devices in pediatric emergency medicine-The laryngeal mask is and remains state of the art : Joint statement of the Institute for Emergency Medicine and Medicine Management (INM), the University Clinic Munich, LMU Munich, Germany, the Working Group for Pediatric Critical Care and Emergency Medicine of the German Interdisciplinary Society for

Airway management with supraglottic airway devices (SGA) in life-threatening emergencies in children is increasingly being used. Different specifications of laryngeal masks (LM) and the laryngeal tube (LT) are commonly used devices for this purpose. We present aliterature review and interdisciplinary consensus statement of different societies on the use of SGA in pediatric emergency medicine. Literature review in the PubMed database and classification of studies according to the criteria of the Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine. Levels and consensus finding within the group of authors. The evidence for successful applications of the various types of LM is significantly higher than for LT application. Reported smaller series of successful applications of LT are currently limited to selected research groups and centers. Especially for children below 10 kg body weight there currently exists insufficient evidence for the successful application of the LT and therefore its routine use cannot be recommended. SGAs used for emergencies should have agastric drainage possibility. Considering the scientific data and the large clinical experience with the LM in medical routine and emergency situations in children currently only the LM can be recommended for alternative (i.e., non-intubation) emergency airway management in children. If alternative airway management is part of alocal emergency strategy, the LM should be provided in all pediatric sizes (1, 1½, 2, 2½, 3) for out of hospital use and in hospital emergency use and all users should regularly be trained in its application.

Upper and Lower Gastrointestinal Bleeding: A Retrospective Study on 10 Years Experiences in Southeastern Iran.

Background: Gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) is an emergency medical situation that is very common, although often benign but can cause considerable morbidity and mortality and health care costs. The aim of this study was to analyze the endoscopic evaluation of upper GIB (UGIB) and lower GIB (LGIB) in Sistan and Balouchestan, southeast Iran. Methods: Data from patients with GIB in a referral university-affiliated hospital in Zahedan, Southeastern Iran during a 10-year period, were obtained. A total of 21884 reports of adult patients' endoscopy and colonoscopy from 2011 to 2020 who were admitted to Ali-Ibn-Abitaleb hospital were studied of which 5862 reports were related to GIB. Incomplete files were excluded. Information on age, sex, and endoscopic diagnosis of the 5053 reports was analyzed and compared using chi-square statistical test. Results: There were 3310 men (65.6%) and 1743 women (34.4%) with a mean (±SD) of age 48.4 (±19.83) years. 3079 patients had UGIB (60.8%) and 1974 patients had LGIB (39.2%). Peptic ulcer (72.8% duodenal ulcer and 27.2% gastric ulcer) was seen as the main reason for UGIB (29.7%) and hemorrhoids were the main reason for LGIB (44.2%). Mallory-Weiss syndrome was significantly common in the age<40 years old, and the incidence rate of malignancy was significantly higher in those aged>40 years old than in the younger age group (P<0.001). Conclusion: Peptic ulcer was the most common etiological factor and it was more common in men than in women. Gastroesophageal varices were the second most common cause of UGIB. Hemorrhoids and anal fissures were observed as the most common colonoscopic findings of LGIB. The prevalences of UGIB and LGIB are more common in men than women and increase with age. It is important for physicians to constantly update their information about the spectrum of diseases in their region and their changing over time to provide accurate diagnosis and management timely.

Operation of national coordinating service for interhospital transfer from emergency departments: experience and implications from Korea

BackgroundSince 2014, Korea has been operating the National Emergency Medical Situation Room (NEMSR) to provide regional emergency departments (EDs) with coordination services for the interhospital transfer of critically ill patients. The present study aimed to describe the NEMSR’s experience and interhospital transfer pattern from EDs nationwide, and investigate the factors related to delayed transfers or transfers that could not be arranged by the NEMSR.MethodsThis study was a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of the NEMSR’s coordination registry from 2017 to 2019. The demographic and hospital characteristics related to emergency transfers were analyzed with hierarchical logistic models.ResultsThe NEMSR received a total of 14,003 requests for the arrangement of the interhospital transfers of critically ill patients from 2017 to 2019. Of 10,222 requests included in the analysis, 8297 (81.17%) successful transfers were coordinated by the NEMSR. Transfers were requested mainly due to a shortage of medical staff (59.79%) and ICU beds (30.80%). Delayed transfers were significantly associated with insufficient hospital resources. The larger the bed capacity of the sending hospital, the more difficult it was to coordinate the transfer (odds ratio [OR] for transfer not arranged = 2.04; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.48–2.82, ≥ 1000 beds vs. < 300 beds) and the longer the transfer was delayed (OR for delays of more than 44 minutes = 2.08; 95% CI: 1.57–2.76, ≥ 1000 beds vs. < 300 beds).ConclusionsThe operation of the NEMSR has clinical importance in that it could efficiently coordinate interhospital transfers through a protocolized process and resource information system. The coordination role is significant as information technology in emergency care develops while regional gaps in the distribution of medical resources widen.

Experience of using expired lyophilized snake antivenom during a medical emergency situation in Lao People's Democratic Republic--A possible untapped resource to tackle antivenom shortage in Southeast Asia.

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of expired lyophilized snake antivenom of Thai origin during a medical emergency in 2020/2021 in Lao People's Democratic Republic. Observational case series of patients with potentially life-threatening envenoming who consented to the administration of expired antivenom between August 2020 and May 2022. A total of 31 patients received the expired antivenom. Malayan pit vipers (Calloselasma rhodostoma) were responsible for 26 (84%) cases and green pit vipers (Trimeresurus species) for two cases (6%). In three patients (10%) the responsible snake could not be identified. Of these, two presented with signs of neurotoxicity and one with coagulopathy. A total of 124 vials of expired antivenom were administered. Fifty-nine vials had expired 2-18 months earlier, 56 vials 19-36 months and nine vials 37-60 months before. Adverse effects of variable severity were observed in seven (23%) patients. All 31 patients fully recovered from systemic envenoming. Under closely controlled conditions and monitoring the use of expired snake antivenom proved to be effective and safe. Discarding this precious medication is an unnecessary waste, and it could be a valuable resource in ameliorating the current shortage of antivenom. Emergency use authorization granted by health authorities and preclinical testing of expired antivenoms could provide the support and legal basis for such an approach.

Simulating Emergency Medical Situations in Usability Testing

Simulating Emergency Medical Situations in Usability Testing

Individualized CT image-guided free-hand catheter technique: A new and reliable method for minimally invasive evacuation of basal ganglia hematoma.

ObjectiveTo validate the clinical reliability of an individualized CT image-guided‘ free-hand catheter technique (CTGFC) for basal ganglia hematoma (BGH) evacuation.MethodsFrom January 2017 to December 2020, 58 cases of patients with BGH who underwent catheter evacuation were enrolled. The surgery was conducted using the CTGFC (n = 31) or stereotactic catheter technique (STC, n = 27). The authors evaluated the baseline characteristics, operation-related indicators, postoperative complications, hospitalization-related indicators, short-term and long-term functional outcomes, and mortality rate 1 year after surgery.ResultsAll patients underwent BGH evacuation under non-general anesthesia in the CTGFC group. The operative time (p < 0.01) and operation costs (p < 0.05) were significantly shorter in the CTGFC group than that in the STC group (p < 0.01). Comparable results were found in the catheter indwelling duration, residual hematoma volume, hematoma evacuation rate, incidence of postoperative complications, hospital ICU stay, and hospital costs between these two groups (p > 0.05). The duration of hospital stay was remarkably shorter in the CTGFC group than that in the STC group (p < 0.01). There were no differences in terms of the short-time functional outcomes score at discharge, including the Glasgow outcome scale (GOS) score, the activities of daily living (ADL) score, and the Karnofsky performance score (KPS). Moreover, comparable findings were also found in the 1-year postoperative GOS score, ADL score, KPS score, and mortality rate between these two groups.ConclusionThe simple CTGFC-assisted surgery was a safe and reliable option for BGH evacuation, especially in primary medical institutes and emergency situations with limited medical resources.

Pervasive Healthcare Internet of Things: A Survey

Thanks to the proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT), pervasive healthcare is gaining popularity day by day as it offers health support to patients irrespective of their location. In emergency medical situations, medical aid can be sent quickly. Though not yet standardized, this research direction, healthcare Internet of Things (H-IoT), attracts the attention of the research community, both academia and industry. In this article, we conduct a comprehensive survey of pervasive computing H-IoT. We would like to visit the wide range of applications. We provide a broad vision of key components, their roles, and connections in the big picture. We classify the vast amount of publications into different categories such as sensors, communication, artificial intelligence, infrastructure, and security. Intensively covering 118 research works, we survey (1) applications, (2) key components, their roles and connections, and (3) the challenges. Our survey also discusses the potential solutions to overcome the challenges in this research field.