Increased Emergency Calls during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia: A National Retrospective Study

Al-Wathinani, Ahmed M.; Hertelendy, Attila; Alhurishi, Sultana A.; Mobrad, Abdulmajeed; Alhazmi, Riyadh A.; Altuwaijri, Mohammad; Alanazi, Meshal; Alotaibi, Raied; Goniewicz, Krzysztof

doi:10.3390/healthcare9010014

Cited by 34 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…12 Besides, some patients may not want to use an ambulance since COVID-19 suspected patients with symptoms such as fever and cough were transported in ambulances, and it was thought that COVID-19 was transmitted through aerosolized droplets. 1 Similar to this study, while there was a decrease in ambulance calls in Japan 1 and the United States 6 (26.1% decrease), there was an increase in Saudi Arabia 13 (22.1%-27.3% increase). It is thought that this increase was due to the strict lockdown, especially in areas with low population, and patients preferred to be transferred to the hospital via ambulance instead of using their own vehicles.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

“…It is thought that this increase was due to the strict lockdown, especially in areas with low population, and patients preferred to be transferred to the hospital via ambulance instead of using their own vehicles. 13 Prehospital emergency services were established to provide rapid transport of critically injured or ill patients to the ED. In the present day, patients' frequent use of ambulances for non-emergency complaints and injuries strains the capacity of prehospital emergency health services.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Have the Diagnoses of Patients Transported by Ambulances Changed in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic?

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Acehan

et al. 2021

Prehosp. Disaster med.

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Introduction: Since December 2019, emergency services and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) systems have been at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic world-wide. Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the reasons and the necessity of transportation to the emergency department (ED) by ambulance and the outcomes of these cases with the admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic period and during the same period in 2019. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted in which patients transported to the ED by ambulance in April 2019 and April 2020 were compared. The primary outcomes were the changes in the number and diagnoses of patients who were transferred to the ED by ambulance during the COVID-19 period. The secondary outcome was the need for patients to be transferred to the hospital by ambulance. Results: A total of 4,466 patients were included in the study. During the COVID-19 period, there was a 41.6% decrease in ED visits and a 31.5% decrease in ambulance calls. The number of critically ill patients transported by ambulance (with diagnoses such as decompensated heart failure [P <.001], chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] attack (P = .001), renal failure [acute-chronic; P = .008], angina pectoris [P <.001], and syncope [P <.001]) decreased statistically significantly in 2020. Despite this decrease in critical patient calls, non-emergency patient calls continued and 52.2% of the patients transported by ambulance in 2020 were discharged from the ED. Conclusions: Understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting EMS use is important for evaluating the current state of emergency health care and planning to manage possible future outbreaks.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Have the Diagnoses of Patients Transported by Ambulances Changed in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Gülen

Satar

Acehan

et al. 2021

Prehosp. Disaster med.

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“…Flooding today must be both appreciated and managed as multifactorial events [48][49][50][51][52]. Therefore, developing guidelines and standard operating procedures in addition to the introduction of educational interventions, such as training campaigns, and designing mobile solutions aimed to enhance the knowledge and awareness among HCWs is highly recommended [53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67]. It is essential to make a major shift toward improvement as far as the notion of flood disaster preparedness for healthcare providers is concerned.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Cross-Sectional Study on the Flood Emergency Preparedness among Healthcare Providers in Saudi Arabia

Al-Wathinani

Alakeel

Alani

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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This study used a descriptive cross-sectional methodology to measure healthcare workers’ knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and willingness to respond to a flood scenario in Saudi Arabia. A validated survey was distributed to collect data using a convenience sampling technique through multiple social media platforms. A total of 227 participants were included in this study: 52% of them were aged between 26 to 34 years, 74% were residents from Riyadh, and 52.4% worked in nursing divisions. A significant number of respondents (73.2%) had positive perceptions towards their hospitals’ ability to provide an effective response to a flood, 89% were willing to report to work following a flood, and 90% of participants reported the need to develop both guidelines and training for flood disaster preparedness. Preparation and successful flood mitigation in the hospital setting requires staff that have both knowledge and training in emergency management. One way to obtain such readiness is through competency-based training, including both table-top and full-scale live exercises. Although the willingness to respond to such a flooding emergency was high among staff, the development of guidelines and educational programs is needed in order to develop the competencies and skills sets to improve disaster preparedness response and preparedness efforts.

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“…This was considered a panic phase because earlier outbreaks in the area had very little or close to zero infected patients, making the response to such situations different. In many countries, there is a significant increase in the use of EMS services, including phone calls, consultation, and an increasing number of operations [4], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]. However, in the areas studied, the amount of service usage dropped significantly with an average of 1-2 EMS operations per day as people were not willing to risk infection and stayed at home.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, studies have shown that the panic of infection among EMS personnel has increased, which is associated with increased risk of transmission to their family members [9]. In Israel, 8.51% of emergency calls were COVID-19 related, resulting in more than 4 times the typical use of emergency hotlines [10] similar to New York City [11] and Saudi Arabia [12]. A study in Japan found that the effects of this required hospitals allow for reduced delivery or increased coordination time in EMS [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergency Medical Services amid New Wave of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak in Khon Kaen, Thailand

Apiratwarakul

Suzuki

Çelebi

et al. 2021

Open Access Maced J Med Sci

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BACKGROUND: COVID-19 outbreaks occurring in many countries around the world have had a significant impact on emergency medical services (EMS) in terms of the number of operations and procedures performed, including those on ambulances. However, the number of EMS amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Khon Kaen, Thailand has not been well studied. AIM: The aim of this study was to identify and analyze the relationship between the use of EMS and the outbreak of COVID-19. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done in Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen, Thailand with a single EMS centered. Data was collected between March 27, 2021 and April 9, 2021 and designated as (Day-7 to Day 7 of pandemic services) as well as normal services which collected data between March 27 and April 9, 2019 (Day-7 to Day 7 of normal services). RESULTS: Three hundred eight EMS operations were examined. A total of 77.9% (n = 95) of pandemic services were for males and the mean age of the patients was 32.1 ± 5.4 years. During the normal services in 2019, the average number of EMS operations was 13.3 ± 2.4 times per day over the two weeks of the study. In 2021, before the outbreak (Day-7 to Day 1), the average number of EMS operations was 13.2 ± 1.8 times/day. After Day 1, there was a drop in the number of EMS operations which was associated with an increase in COVID-19 infections (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The number of EMS users during the COVID-19 outbreak decreased considerably compared to the pre-epidemic levels and normal service intervals, including the severity of the users, were more severe than normal.

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Increased Emergency Calls during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia: A National Retrospective Study

Cited by 34 publications

References 33 publications

Have the Diagnoses of Patients Transported by Ambulances Changed in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Have the Diagnoses of Patients Transported by Ambulances Changed in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic?

A Cross-Sectional Study on the Flood Emergency Preparedness among Healthcare Providers in Saudi Arabia

Emergency Medical Services amid New Wave of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak in Khon Kaen, Thailand

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