Defending the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic: Protecting our first responders and emergency medical service personnel

Ehrlich, Haley; McKenney, Mark; Elkbuli, Adel

doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2020.05.068

Cited by 21 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…• EMS calls during COVID-19, 7,8,10-19 • Reduced EMS operator response time, 7 • Ambulance response delays, 14,20,21 • Collateral mortality and morbidity among non-COVID-19 cases, 14,17,19,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]31 and • Total ambulance call time. 17,29,[33][34][35]…”

Section: Charting the Data And Synthesizing Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Paradoxically, a scarcity of PPE and appropriate face masks is found to be a reason in some areas of the world to cause ambulance delays. 35 …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The new regulations force the donning of appropriate PPE by EMS personnel in preparing for EMS calls, which is considered a time-consuming procedure that impacts the RT of ambulances. [33][34][35] Therefore, responding to highacuity trauma patients can be delayed by suiting up with PPE. Paradoxically, a scarcity of PPE and appropriate face masks is found to be a reason in some areas of the world to cause ambulance delays.…”

Section: Total Ambulance Call Timementioning

confidence: 99%

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Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Calls During COVID-19: Early Lessons Learned for Systems Planning (A Narrative Review)

Amiry¹,

Maguire²

2021

OAEM

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Background: Over the course of the COVID-19 progress, reports from many locations around the world indicated major increases in EMS call volume, which imposed great pressure on EMS dispatch centers (EMSDC) globally. No studies yet have been done to examine this phenomenon. Objective: This paper examines the interrelated effects of the unprecedented global increase of EMS call, the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on responding to non-COVID-19 emergencies, and the concurrent effects of having overwhelmed dispatch centers. It tries to explain the current evidence of the bottleneck of EMS calls during the early phase of the worldwide pandemic. Eligibility Criteria: We examine the numbers of EMS calls internationally between March and June 2020, derived from published literature and news media. Only articles in English were selected, with certain keywords related to EMS calls, ambulance delay, stroke and cardiac arrest. Source of Evidence: Google Scholar was the main searching source. Results: After applying the selection criteria, a total of 29 citations were chosen, and a pattern of knowledge resulted in the emergence of five themes: EMS calls during COVID-19, Reduced EMS operator response time, Ambulance response delays, Collateral mortality and morbidity among non-COVID-19 cases, and Total ambulance call time. Conclusion:Over the course of COVID-19 progress, there was a global phenomenon of exponential increases in EMS calls, which is expected to impose a great pressure on EMS dispatch centers. Several factors contributing to the bottleneck of EMS calls are identified and explained.

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Section: Charting the Data And Synthesizing Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Paradoxically, a scarcity of PPE and appropriate face masks is found to be a reason in some areas of the world to cause ambulance delays. 35 …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Total Ambulance Call Timementioning

confidence: 99%

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Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Calls During COVID-19: Early Lessons Learned for Systems Planning (A Narrative Review)

Amiry¹,

Maguire²

2021

OAEM

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“…This study was part of a larger retrospective evaluation of paramedic students’ experiences in the context of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Oslo, Norway, in spring 2020. Analyses revealed that among paramedic students who were part of the national response to COVID-19, few experienced lack of PPE, and none tested positive for COVID-19, despite performing clinical healthcare-related work during the national and international shortage of PPE [ 2 – 4 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Paramedics and other healthcare workers were exposed to the new virus with limited knowledge about its degree of infectiousness, mode of transmission, or virulence. Simultaneously, there were national [ 2 , 3 ] and international [ 4 ] shortages of personal protection equipment (PPE), which constituted a risk for healthcare workers of catching COVID-19 while performing their work [ 3 ]. This made healthcare work challenging and unpredictable.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A retrospective survey study of paramedic students’ exposure to SARS-CoV-2, participation in the COVID-19 pandemic response, and health-related quality of life

Häikiö

Andersen

Bakkerud

et al. 2021

Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med

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Background Healthcare workers have reported increased anxiety while working in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the role of healthcare students in a health crisis has been discussed among clinicians and researchers. The simultaneous international shortage of personal protection equipment (PPE) during the first wave of the pandemic potentially exposed healthcare workers and students to the virus during their work and clinical training. Our aim was therefore to evaluate the extent to which paramedic students in Oslo, Norway, were exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and were involved in voluntary and/or paid healthcare-related work. An evaluation was also made of the students’ COVID-19-related symptoms and of their health-related quality of life (HRQoL) during the first wave of the pandemic. Methods Paramedic students (n = 155) at Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway, were invited to complete an online survey five months after the first cases of COVID-19 were detected. The university was situated in the epicenter of the pandemic in Norway. The responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, and linear regression analysis. Results Of the 109 respondents (70.3%), 40 worked in patient-related healthcare work. Of those, seven (17.5%) students experienced insufficient supplies of PPE, six (15.0%) participated in aerosol-generating procedures without adequate PPE, and nine (22.5%) experienced insufficient time to don PPE. Seventy-five (70.1%) students experienced no COVID-19-related symptoms, and no students tested positive for COVID-19. HRQoL was scored 0.92 (sd 0.12), which was significantly higher than for the general population before the pandemic (p = 0.002). Students continued with their education and participated in a variety of pandemic-related emergency tasks during the first wave of the pandemic. Conclusions Paramedic students were valuable contributors to the national pandemic response. Despite potential exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in unpredictable emergency settings with limited supplies of personal protection equipment, no students tested positive for COVID-19. Their health-related quality of life remained high. Students’ participation and utilization in similar health crises should be considered in future health crises.

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COVID‐19: Mass Casualty Planning

Myers¹

2022

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID‐19)

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Defending the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic: Protecting our first responders and emergency medical service personnel

Cited by 21 publications

References 4 publications

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Calls During COVID-19: Early Lessons Learned for Systems Planning (A Narrative Review)

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Calls During COVID-19: Early Lessons Learned for Systems Planning (A Narrative Review)

A retrospective survey study of paramedic students’ exposure to SARS-CoV-2, participation in the COVID-19 pandemic response, and health-related quality of life

COVID‐19: Mass Casualty Planning

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