Physical, Psychosocial, Occupational Problems and Protection Behaviors Experienced by Pre-Hospital Emergency Healthcare Professionals During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Aim: COVID-19 pandemic has become one of the most criticalhealth problems of the 21st century. Healthcare workersundoubtedly fulfil the most crucial task of combating this criticalhealth problem all over the world. This study was carried out todetermine the experiences of pre-hospital emergency healthcareworkers during the COVID-19 process.Material and Method: This descriptive and cross-sectional studywas conducted on 204 healthcare workers working in Kayseriprovince, Turkey's pre-hospital emergency health services.Results: 50.5% of the participants were women, 69.1% weremarried, and the average age was 31.7 ± 5.8. Of the participants45.6% were working as an Emergency Medical Technician, and85.8% were university graduates. Of the participants 99.0% statedthat the workload had increased during the COVID-19 process. Ofthe participants 42.2% had a coronavirus test and 27.9% of thosewho had the test had a positive test result. During the COVID-19process, 14.7% of participants were separated from their families,which adversely affected 90.0% psychologically. While it appearsthat the participants used personal protective equipment duringthe COVID-19 process, this increase was 98.5% in wearing a mask.Of the participants 70.6% stated an increase in violence againsthealthcare workers during the COVID-19 process, and 63.7% ofthem indicated that they experienced violence during this period.Conclusions: During the COVID-19 process, the workload of prehospital emergency healthcare workers increased. As a society,support should be given to the combat against the pandemicby following precautions and to healthcare workers due to theirdevoted work.Keywords: COVID-19, emergency, healthcare workers, pre-hospital