Lasting Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Prehospital Emergency Medical Service Missions

Isabella Metelmann; Matthes Nagel; Bastian Schneider; Bernd Krämer; Sebastian Kraemer

doi:10.2147/OAEM.S425272

Lasting Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Prehospital Emergency Medical Service Missions

Open Access Emerg Med. 2023 Sep 18:15:325-332. doi: 10.2147/OAEM.S425272. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Isabella Metelmann¹, Matthes Nagel², Bastian Schneider², Bernd Krämer³, Sebastian Kraemer¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Visceral, Transplant, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, University Hospital of Leipzig, Leipzig, Saxony, 04103, Germany.
² Simba n3 GmbH, Oelsnitz, Saxony, 08606, Germany.
³ Rettungszweckverband Südwestsachsen, Plauen, Saxony, 08529, Germany.

Abstract

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic confronted prehospital emergency medical services (PHEMS) with immense challenges. This study aimed to investigate the development of PHEMS mission numbers and times in the COVID-affected region of Southwest Saxony (SWS).

Patients and methods: This was a retrospective analysis of PHEMS in SWS during lockdown periods and equal time spans in the previous and following years. Differences were tested for statistical significance using the chi-squared test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Results: The total number of missions showed a substantial drop during the first (-16.6%) and the second (-4.5%) lockdown period compared with the previous year. Next-year periods showed a recovery that was nearly equivalent to the starting point. The first lockdown period was not associated with longer overall mission times. The minutes spent at the scene differed significantly between the first lockdown period (31.1 ± 3.52 min), previous year (28.4 ± 4.84 min), and follow-up period (31.8 ± 0.98 min). During the second lockdown, the overall mission times (71.6 ± 2.91 min), response times in minutes (8.9 ± 0.49 min), and minutes spent at the scene (31.4 ± 2.99 min) were significantly longer. The minutes spent at the scene (32.3 ± 18.68 min) and the overall mission time (69.6 ± 1.92 min) remained significantly longer during the control period.

Conclusion: Our data confirm the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on German PHEMS. It can be concluded that nationwide lockdown measures led to lasting effects regarding a reduction in the total mission number, transport-on-site released-ratio, and emergency time intervals in the following year, without lockdown restrictions. The lasting effects on the transport-on-site released-ratio and emergency time intervals call for a re-evaluation of the delivery of emergency services during pandemics. These findings can inform future policy decisions and resource allocations to ensure optimal emergency medical services.

Keywords: COVID; SARS-CoV-2; emergency medicine; emergency mission times; prehospital emergency medical services.

Grants and funding

Funded by the Open Access Publishing Fund of Leipzig University supported by the German Research Foundation within the program Open Access Publication Funding.