Mental health patterns during COVID-19 in emergency medical services (EMS)

Fonseca, Sílvia Monteiro; Faria, Sara; Cunha, Sónia; Silva, Márcio; Ramos, María J.; Azevedo, Guilherme; Campos, Rui C.; Barbosa, António Ruão; Queirós, Cristina

doi:10.1108/ijes-08-2020-0052

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 39 publications

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“…In the study of Fonseca et al, 66% of emergency medical service personnel had good psychological adaptation to epidemic conditions, and in another study on Portuguese medical paramedics, the overall fear of COVID-19, had an average of 1.92 ± 0.94 from 4 and was interpreted as low and medium level fear. Psychological adaptation was related to their experience and overall mental health, as well as security and support measures [ 29 – 30 ]. Direct contact with COVID-19 patients, lack of PPE, and unforeseen events, were among the factors leading to stress in healthcare workers in another study [ 28 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The experiences of Red Crescent relief workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran: a qualitative phenomenological study

Mohammadkhani,

Tavakoli Sani,

Sarani

et al. 2023

BMC Health Serv Res

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Background The daily increase of infected individuals and mortalities related to COVID-19 in Iran increased public fear and anxiety and affected the job performance of many health workers, including the Iranian Red Crescent Society, as one of the organizations responding to COVID-19. Methods This study aimed to explore the experiences of Red Crescent rescuers, using a qualitative method with an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), and by conducting semi-structured and in-depth interviews with Red Crescent relief workers from Mashhad in September 2020. Participants were selected by purposive sampling. Results Rescuers in the Red Crescent Society, had gained different experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. The experiences were categorized into four main themes. These main themes were: (1) Psychological disorders, (2) Organizational support (3) Mis-management (both structural and human factors), and (4) Opportunities. Conclusion The COVID-19 epidemic did create unique opportunities to understand the pitfalls of the Red Crescent aid services. Red Crescent rescue workers suffered from psychological symptoms, and mismanagement was also present. Psychological support and organizational improvements should be implemented.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The experiences of Red Crescent relief workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran: a qualitative phenomenological study

Mohammadkhani,

Tavakoli Sani,

Sarani

et al. 2023

BMC Health Serv Res

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Fear and Trembling While Working in a Pandemic: an Exploratory Meta-Analysis of Workers’ COVID-19 Distress

2022

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The global COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of workers and taken its toll on health and well-being. In line with recent calls for more inductive and abductive occupational health science research, we exploratorily meta-analyzed workers’ COVID-19 distress, defined as psychological and psychosomatic strain contextualized to experiencing the virus and pandemic broadly. We identified many existing COVID-19 distress measures (e.g., Fear of COVID-19 Scale by Ahorsu et al., International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction , 2020 ; Coronavirus Anxiety Scale by Lee, Death Studies, 44 (7), 393–401, 2020a ) and correlates, including demographic variables (viz., gender, marital status, whether worker has children), positive well-being (e.g., quality of life, perceived social support, resilience), negative well-being (e.g., anxiety, depression, sleep problems), and work-related variables (e.g., job satisfaction, burnout, task performance). Additionally, we found preliminary evidence of subgroup differences by COVID-19 distress measure and country-level moderation moderators (viz., cultural values, pandemic-related government response) as well as COVID-19 distress’s incremental validity over and above anxiety and depression. The findings—based on k = 135 independent samples totaling N = 61,470 workers—were abductively contextualized with existing theories and previous research. We also call for future research to address the grand challenge of working during the COVID-19 pandemic and ultimately develop a cumulative occupational health psychology of pandemics. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41542-022-00131-x.

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The COVID-19 ambulance response assessment (CARA) study: a national survey of ambulance service healthcare professionals’ preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Barrett,

Eastley,

Herbland

et al. 2024

British Paramedic Journal

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic placed significant demand on the NHS, including ambulance services, but it is unclear how this affected ambulance service staff and paramedics in other clinical settings (e.g. urgent and primary care, armed services, prisons). This study aimed to measure the self-perceived preparedness and impact of the first wave of the pandemic on paramedics’ psychological stress and perceived ability to deliver care.Methods: Ambulance clinicians and paramedics working in other healthcare settings were invited to participate in a three-phase sequential online survey during the acceleration (April 2020), peak (May 2020) and deceleration (September/October 2020) phases of the first wave of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom. Recruitment used social media, Trust internal bulletins and the College of Paramedics’ communication channels, employing a convenience sampling strategy. Data were collected using purposively developed open- and closed-ended questions and the validated general health questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12). Data were analysed using multi-level linear and logistic regression models.Results: Phase 1 recruited 3717 participants, reducing to 2709 (73%) by phase 2 and 2159 (58%) by phase 3. Participants were mostly male (58%, n = 2148) and registered paramedics (n = 1992, 54%). Mean (standard deviation) GHQ-12 scores were 16.5 (5.2) during phase 1, reducing to 15.2 (6.7) by phase 3. A total of 84% of participants (n = 3112) had a GHQ-12 score ≥ 12 during the first phase, indicating psychological distress. Participants that had higher GHQ-12 scores were feeling unprepared for the pandemic, and reported a lack of confidence in using personal protective equipment and managing cardiac arrests in confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients.Conclusions: Most participants reported psychological distress, the reasons for which are multi-factorial. Ambulance managers need to be aware of the risks to staff mental health and take action to mitigate these, to support staff in the delivery of unscheduled, emergency and urgent care under these additional pressures.

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Mental health patterns during COVID-19 in emergency medical services (EMS)

Cited by 3 publications

References 39 publications

The experiences of Red Crescent relief workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran: a qualitative phenomenological study

The experiences of Red Crescent relief workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran: a qualitative phenomenological study

Fear and Trembling While Working in a Pandemic: an Exploratory Meta-Analysis of Workers’ COVID-19 Distress

The COVID-19 ambulance response assessment (CARA) study: a national survey of ambulance service healthcare professionals’ preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic

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