Résumé
Background & Aim: Volunteers' perceptions may affect their future decisions to participate in crisis intervention. Few studies in Iran have been conducted to examine the experiences of medical personnel who volunteered during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative study describes the experiences of medical volunteers during COVID-19 in Iran. Methods & Materials: A total 17 healthcare volunteers who worked in COVID-19 hospital wards were recruited using purposive sampling. All participants were recruited in the current study from the hospitals affiliated with the Tehran University of Medical Sciences if they expressed their willingness to participate and had at least two months experience of working as healthcare volunteers in COVID-19 wads. In-depth video-call semi-structured interviews were conducted from August to November 2020. The data were analyzed using the qualitative thematic analysis method. Results: One main theme "from nuisance to helpful assistants” and four sub-themes including the "feeling of inefficiency”, "negligent managing”, "situation orientation”, and "transformation for integrity” emerged from the data. Conclusion: Despite experiencing challenges, the volunteers and hospital staff tried to change their approaches to joint collaboration by improving their capabilities for situation awareness and creating integrity. These findings provide policymakers with a better understanding of health volunteers' challenges in hospitals during crises. © 2023 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Published by Tehran University of Medical Sciences.
Résumé
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, severe steps have been taken to control its rapid spread by countries globally. A nationwide lockdown was executed at the end of January 2020 in China, which resulted in a significant change and an improvement in air quality patterns. In this study, the objectives were to assess the spatiotemporal impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on air quality in Nanjing, China. The present study researched the six air pollutant parameters, namely, PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, CO, and O-3. The data were divided into six periods, P1-P3: pre-lockdown, during lockdown, and after lockdown periods, P4-P6: 2017-19 (same dates of lockdown). The results reveal that during the COVID-19 control period, a significant drop and an improvement in air quality were observed. According to our findings, the PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, and CO concentrations were reduced by -33.03%, -35.41%, -21.26%, -39.79%, and -20.65%, respectively, while the concentration of O-3 significantly increased by an average of 104.85% in Nanjing. From the previous 3 years to lockdown variations, PM10 (-40.60%), PM2.5 (-40.02%), SO2 (-54.19%), NO2 (-33.60%), and CO (23.16%) were also reduced, while O-3 increased (10.83%). Moreover, compared with those in the COVID-19 period, the levels of PM10, SO2, NO2, CO, and O-3 increased by 2.84%, 28.55%, 4.68%, 16.44%, and 37.36%, respectively, while PM2.5 reduced by up to -14.34% after the lockdown in Nanjing. The outcomes of our study provide a roadmap for the scientific community and local administration to make policies to control air pollution.