Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-x4r87 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T19:17:28.930Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Characteristics of Emergency Medical Service Missions in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest and Death Cases in the Periods of Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 October 2021

Parisa Hasani-Sharamin Open the ORCID record for Parisa Hasani-Sharamin [Opens in a new window] ,
Peyman Saberian Open the ORCID record for Peyman Saberian [Opens in a new window] ,
Mostafa Sadeghi Open the ORCID record for Mostafa Sadeghi [Opens in a new window] ,
Seyed Mohammad Mireskandari Open the ORCID record for Seyed Mohammad Mireskandari [Opens in a new window]  and
Alireza Baratloo Open the ORCID record for Alireza Baratloo [Opens in a new window]
Parisa Hasani-Sharamin
Affiliation:
Prehospital and Hospital Emergency Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Tehran Emergency Medical Service Center, Tehran, Iran
Peyman Saberian*
Affiliation:
Prehospital and Hospital Emergency Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Department of Anesthesiology, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mostafa Sadeghi
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesiology, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Seyed Mohammad Mireskandari
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Alireza Baratloo
Affiliation:
Prehospital and Hospital Emergency Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Department of Emergency Medicine, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
*
Correspondence: Peyman Saberian Department of Anesthesiology Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex Tehran University of Medical SciencesTehran, Iran E-mail: peymansaberian61@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

Some studies in countries affected by the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have shown that the missions of Emergency Medical Service (EMS) have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rate of death and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) has been increased due to the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19.

Objective:

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the process of EMS missions, death, and OHCA.

Methods:

This cross-sectional study was performed in Tehran, Iran. All conducted missions in the first six months of the three consecutive solar years of March 21 until September 22 of 2018-2020, which were registered in the registry bank of the Tehran EMS center, were assessed and compared. Based on the opinion of experts, the technician’s on-scene diagnoses were categorized into 14 groups, and then death and OHCA cases were compared.

Results:

In this study, the data of 1,050,376 missions performed in three study periods were analyzed. In general, the number of missions in 2020 was 17.83% fewer than that of 2019 (P < .001); however, the number of missions in 2019 was 30.33% more than that of 2018. On the other hand, the missions of respiratory problems, cardiopulmonary arrest, infectious diseases, and poisoning were increased in 2020 compared to that of 2019. The raw number of OHCA and death cases respectively in 2018, 2019, and 2020 were 25.0, 22.7, and 28.6 cases per 1,000 missions. Of all patients who died in 2020, 4.9% were probable/confirmed COVID-19 cases. The history of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and respiratory disease in patients in 2020 was more frequent than that of the other two years.

Conclusion:

This study showed that the number of missions in the Tehran EMS in 2020 were decreased compared to that of 2019, however the number of missions in 2019 was more than that of 2018. Respiratory problems, infectious diseases, poisoning, death, and OHCA were increased compared to the previous two years and cardiovascular complaints, neurological problems, and motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) in 2020 were fewer than that of the other two years

Keywords

COVID-19Emergency Medical Serviceout-of-hospital cardiac arrest
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 36 , Issue 6 , December 2021 , pp. 676 - 683
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Jahangiri, K, Sahebi, A. Social consequences of COVID-19 pandemic in Iran. Acta Medica Iranica. 2020;58(12):662–663.Google Scholar
Allameh, SF, Shateri Amiri, B, Zarei Jalalabadi, N. Disruption in medical care of non-COVID patients in COVID-19 pandemic. Adv J Emerg Med. 2020;4(2s):e45.Google Scholar
Hartnett, K, Kite-Powell, A, DeVies, J, et al. National syndromic surveillance program community of practice. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency department visits—United States, January 1, 2019-May 30, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69(23):699–704.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP): Emergency Department Visits Percentage of Visits for COVID-19-Like Illness (CLI) or Influenza-like Illness (ILI) September 29, 2019 – April 4, 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/04172020/covid-like-illness.html. Accessed April 9, 2020.Google Scholar
Mantica, G, Riccardi, N, Terrone, C, Gratarola, A. Non-COVID-19 visits to emergency departments during the pandemic: the impact of fear. Public Health. 2020;183:40–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lazzerini, M, Barbi, E, Apicella, A, Marchetti, F, Cardinale, F, Trobia, G. Delayed access or provision of care in Italy resulting from fear of COVID-19. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2020;4(5):e10–e11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Rosa, S, Spaccarotella, C, Basso, C, et al. Reduction of hospitalizations for myocardial infarction in Italy in the COVID-19 era. Eu Heart J. 2020;41(22):2083–2088.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lerner, EB, Newgard, CD, Mann, NC. Effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the US Emergency Medical Services system: a preliminary report. Acad Emerg Med. 2020;27(8):693–699.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saberian, P, Sadeghi, M, Hasani-Sharamin, P, Modabber, M, Baratloo, A. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest diagnosis by emergency medical dispatchers; a diagnostic accuracy study. Australas J Paramedicine. 2019;16.Google Scholar
Fried, JA, Ramasubbu, K, Bhatt, R, et al. The variety of cardiovascular presentations of COVID-19. Circulation. 2020;141(23):1930–1936.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mercuro, NJ, Yen, CF, Shim, DJ, et al. Risk of QT interval prolongation associated with use of hydroxychloroquine with or without concomitant azithromycin among hospitalized patients testing positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). JAMA Cardiol. 2020;5(9):1036–1041.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fauvel, C, Weizman, O, Trimaille, A, et al. Pulmonary embolism in COVID-19 patients: a French multicenter cohort study. Eur Heart J. 2020;41(32):3058–3068.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hagebusch, P, Naujoks, F, Rouchi, H, Schindelin, I, Schweigkofler, U. Decline in emergency medical service missions during the COVID-19 pandemic: results from the fifth largest city in Germany. Intern Emerg Med. 2020;15(8):1609–1611.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laukkanen, L, Lahtinen, S, Liisanantti, J, Kaakinen, T, Ehrola, A, Raatiniemi, L. Early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and social restrictions on ambulance missions. Eur J Public Health. 2021. Epub ahead of print.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slavova, S, Rock, P, Bush, HM, Quesinberry, D, Walsh, SL. Signal of increased opioid overdose during COVID-19 from emergency medical services data. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2020;214:108176.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perlini, S, Canevari, F, Cortesi, S, et al. Emergency department and out-of-hospital emergency system (112—AREU 118) integrated response to coronavirus disease 2019 in a Northern Italy center. Intern Emerg Med. 2020;15(5):825–833.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindner, D, Fitzek, A, Bräuninger, H, et al. Association of cardiac infection with SARS-CoV-2 in confirmed COVID-19 autopsy cases. JAMA Cardiol. 2020;5(11):1281–1285.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stella, F, Alexopoulos, C, Scquizzato, T, Zorzi, A. Impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on emergency medical system missions and emergency department visits in the Venice area. Eur J Emerg Med. 2020;27(4):298–300.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fothergill, RT, Smith, AL, Wrigley, F, Perkins, GD. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in London during the COVID-19 pandemic. Resusc Plus. 2021;5:100066.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nogueira, PJ, de Araújo Nobre, M, Nicola, PJ, Furtado, C, Carneiro, AV. Excess mortality estimation during the COVID-19 pandemic: preliminary data from Portugal. Acta Medica Portuguesa. 2020;33(6):376–383.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chan, PS, Girotra, S, Tang, Y, Al-Araji, R, Nallamothu, BK, McNally, B. Outcomes for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the United States during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. JAMA Cardiol. 2021;6(3):296–303.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marijon, E, Karam, N, Jost, D, et al. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest during the COVID-19 pandemic in Paris, France: a population-based, observational study. Lancet Public Health. 2020;5(8):e437–e443.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baldi, E, Sechi, GM, Mare, C, et al. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest during the Covid-19 outbreak in Italy. N Eng J Med. 2020;383(5):496–498.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oguzoglu, U. COVID-19 Lockdowns and Decline in Traffic Related Deaths and Injuries. Bonn, Germany: IZA – Institute of Labor Economics; 2020.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, MW. COVID Lockdowns, social distancing, and fatal car crashes: more deaths on Hobbesian Highways? Camb J Evid Based Polic. 2020;4:238–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lai, PH, Lancet, EA, Weiden, MD, et al. Characteristics associated with out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and resuscitations during the novel coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in New York City. JAMA Cardiol. 2020;5(10):1154–1163.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Renzi, S, Landoni, G, Zangrillo, A, Ciceri, F. MicroCLOTS pathophysiology in COVID 19. Korean J Intern Med. 2020. Epub ahead of print.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, L, Yan, X, Fan, Q, et al. D-dimer levels on admission to predict in-hospital mortality in patients with Covid-19. J Thromb Haemost. 2020;18(6):1324–1329.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Topol, EJ. COVID-19 can affect the heart. Science. 2020;370(6515):408–409.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lorente-Ros, A, Ruiz, JMM, Rincón, LM, et al. Myocardial injury determination improves risk stratification and predicts mortality in COVID-19 patients. Cardiol J. 2020;27(5):489–496.Google ScholarPubMed
Borkowska, MJ, Jaguszewski, MJ, Koda, M, et al. Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rate: a systematic review with meta-analysis. J Clin Med. 2021;10(6):1209.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed