Open AccessEffect of the First Wave of the Belgian COVID-19 Pandemic on Physician-Provided Prehospital Critical Care in the City of Antwerp (Belgium)
Author(s) -
Tina Lavigne,
Brecht De Tavernier,
N. Van Regenmortel,
Wouter De Tavernier,
Jan Christiaen,
Ives Hubloue,
Kurt Anseeuw
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
prehospital and disaster medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.72
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1945-1938
pISSN - 1049-023X
DOI - 10.1017/s1049023x21001278
Subject(s) - medicine , pandemic , psychological intervention , emergency medicine , emergency medical services , retrospective cohort study , medical emergency , covid-19 , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , psychiatry
There is evidence to suggest that patients delayed seeking urgent medical care during the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. A delay in health-seeking behavior could increase the disease severity of patients in the prehospital setting. The combination of COVID-19-related missions and augmented disease severity in the prehospital environment could result in an increase in the number and severity of physician-staffed prehospital interventions, potentially putting a strain on this highly specialized service.