Open AccessExploring the Challenges of Prehospital Emergency Personnel in COVID-19 Pandemic: A qualitative study
Author(s) -
Zohreh Sarchahi,
Hasan Ghodsi,
Rasool lakziyan,
Razieh Froutan
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
asia pacific journal of health management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2204-3136
pISSN - 1833-3818
DOI - 10.24083/apjhm.v17i1.1285
Subject(s) - personal protective equipment , pandemic , preparedness , economic shortage , medical emergency , context (archaeology) , medicine , covid-19 , qualitative research , emergency medical services , health care , distress , prehospital emergency care , nursing , political science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease , sociology , paleontology , social science , linguistics , philosophy , clinical psychology , pathology , government (linguistics) , law , biology
Objectives: To explore the challenges and experiences of Prehospital Emergency Personnel in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran. Design: Qualitative studySetting: Prehospital Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Iran.Participants: 15 Prehospital Emergency personnel were invited to participate. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted between Januarys to March 2021. Results: Themes relating to challenges of Prehospital Emergency Personnel in COVID – 19 were: Lack of preparedness of EMS for the pandemic, shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), psychological distress and negative emotions, shortage of staff and challenges associated with delivering care for patients using PPE.Conclusions: The current study found that Health Care Workers (HCWs) in the prehospital emergency field had multiple challenges in caring for their patients during COVID-19. Therefore, they are vulnerable in this situation. These challenges must be addressed in order to protect them in pandemics.