Background: Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel are often the first to provide healthcare services to the patient in different situations outside the hospital. Due to the sensitivity of this work, knowledge of ambulance equipment can affect the performance of Emergency Medical Services personnel. Objective This study aims to assess the knowledge of pre-hospital EMS personnel in Rasht, Iran about ambulance equipment. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted on 84 EMS personnel who were selected from 17 medical centers in Rasht, Iran using a convenience sampling method. The data collection tool was a two-part questionnaire. The first part surveys demographic characteristics (age, gender, work experience, type of employment, education, field of study, history of retraining courses) and the second part assesses the knowledge of ambulance equipment according to the Pre-hospital Emergency Medicine/Equipment User Manual of Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education (fourth edition). The data were analyzed in SPSS v. 22 software and the significance level was set at 0.05. Results: Most of participants had a bachelor’s degree, were under permanent employment, and had a degree in nursing and emergency medicine. Their mean work experience was 9.84±6.41 years, and most of them had a history of participating in retraining courses. Their knowledge of ambulance equipment was at a good level. Kruskal-Wallis test showed that their knowledge level had a significant relationship with their type of employment (P<0.001). Conclusion: It is necessary to increase the knowledge level of pre-hospital EMS personnel about ambulance equipment by holding short-term training courses and using simulation methods.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to depression, stress and mental health problems in medical students working in hospitals. Objective: The present study aims to evaluate the professional quality of life (QoL) of medical interns in Rasht, Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 152 medical interns working in hospitals affiliated to Guilan University of Medical Sciences in 2020. The professional QoL was assessed using the professional quality of life scale (ProQOL). Results: The mean scores of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress were 38.4±8.3, 30.9±5.4, and 25.3±7.5, respectively. Compassion satisfaction had a significant relationship with marital status, history of underlying diseases, being resident of the city, and work shift duration. Conclusion: The professional QoL of medical interns in Rasht is low. Considering the differences in the spread of COVID-19 in Iran, it is necessary to conduct more study in other cities and on other medical trainees.

Background: Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) is an autoimmune disease that may occur after infections. As Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) may bring about GBS, it is important to assess the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on this disease Objectives: This study aimed to compare the distribution and characteristics of GBS during and before the COVID-19 pandemic in an academic referral hospital in the north of Iran. Materials & Methods: This retrospective study assessed GBS distribution and characteristics during the COVID-19 pandemic period (from March 2020 to the end of February 2021) and before the pandemic (from March 2019 to the end of February 2020) on 5340 patients referred to the Neurology Ward of Poursina Hospital of Guilan Province, in Iran. Results: There was no significant difference between GBS distribution during (0.03%) and before (0.04%) the COVID-19 pandemic (P=0.413). There were also no differences between the two periods regarding the gender (P=0.659) and age (P=0.417) of the patients. The most common subtype of GBS during the COVID-19 pandemic was Acute Motor and Sensory Axonal Neuropathy (AMSAN) (71.4%). In both periods, the most common type of treatment was intravenous administration of immune globulin. There was no significant difference between the two periods (P=0.838) regarding the patients’ treatment response. Conclusion: The distribution of GBS, its subtypes, type of treatment, and response to treatment were not different between the two study periods.

Background Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a safe and practical treatment method for patients with severe, refractory, or emergency psychiatric disorders. However, ECT is often associated with hemodynamic fluctuations. Objective This study aims to investigate the patterns of hemodynamic changes in patients undergoing ECT. Methods This longitudinal study was conducted in Shafa Hospital, a referral and academic center in Rasht City, Iran, in 2020. The hemodynamic parameters, including heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were recorded before the induction of anesthesia (T0), 1 min after the induction of anesthesia (T1), 1 min after the seizure (T2), and 15 min after the wakefulness (T3). The trend of changes of these parameters was compared in the above-mentioned time intervals. Results The data from 126 patients were analyzed. Most of the cases were diagnosed with a psychotic disorder of schizophrenia (59.5%) and a minority had major depression (14.3%). Meanwhile, 15.9% of the patients suffered from comorbidities. In terms of SBP, DBP, and MAP, the trend of changes was significant (P=0.0001) at four measurement point times, but this was not true for HR (P=0.74). However, all changes in the hemodynamic parameters were kept in the normal range. Conclusion Our study showed that despite the fluctuations in the hemodynamic parameters during ECT, patient management was acceptable as a result of the teamwork and appropriate interaction of psychiatric and anesthesia teams.