The COVID-19 pandemic places unique challenges to medical rescuers’ occupational health. Thus, it is crucial to assess its direct and indirect impacts on key psychological outcomes and adaptation strategies. This study aims to analyse the impact of this pandemic on medical rescuers’ coping and emotion regulation strategies, and their levels of work-related psychological outcomes, such as burnout, trauma and post-traumatic growth. Additionally, it aims to analyse the contribution of coping and emotion regulation strategies, employed to manage the COVID-19 pandemic, on burnout, trauma and post-traumatic growth. A sample of 111 medical rescuers answered the Brief Cope, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, Impact of Event Scale-Revised and Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory. Medical rescuers resorted moderately to coping and emotion regulation strategies, since the beginning of COVID-19. They presented moderate burnout and post-traumatic growth and low trauma. Coping presented a higher weight on burnout, trauma and post-traumatic growth, than emotion regulation. Expressive suppression and dysfunctional coping predicted burnout and trauma, and problem and emotion-focused coping predicted post-traumatic growth. Dysfunctional coping mediated and, thus, exacerbated the effect of expressive suppression on burnout and on trauma. Practitioners should pay closer attention to professionals with higher burnout and trauma. Occupational practices should focus on reducing dysfunctional coping and expressive suppression and promoting problem-focused coping.

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A pandemia agravou o risco de adoecer psicológico nos profissionais de emergência médica (PEM), aumentando os seus níveis de trauma, stress e ansiedade. Estes indicadores psicológicos têm sido estudados nos enfermeiros e médicos, mas são pouco investigados nos PEM. Pretende-se apresentar uma revisão da literatura sobre o impacto da pandemia COVID-19 nos PEM, com particular ênfase na saúde mental/psicológica. Em abril de 2022 efetuou-se uma pesquisa na EBSCOhost, utilizando a equação de pesquisa: “paramedic* or emergency medical service or EMT or ambulance” e “covid-19 or coronavirus or 2019-ncov or sars-cov-2 or cov-19”. Foram encontrados 58 artigos publicados entre 2020 e 2022, sendo selecionados 30, analisados em função da amostra, indicadores psicológicos, principais resultados e objetivos (foco nas diretrizes médicas e procedimentos/instrumentos para proteção ou no estudo da saúde mental e sintomas psicológicos). Os resultados apontam para a falta de estudos sobre a saúde mental destes profissionais durante a pandemia. É fundamental monitorizar a saúde mental/psicológica destes profissionais, nomeadamente devido à duração e impacto causado pela pandemia.

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