Risk for Acquiring Coronavirus Disease Illness among Emergency Medical Service Personnel Exposed to Aerosol-Generating Procedures.
Emerg Infect Dis
; 27(9): 2340-2348, 2021 Sep.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1435934
ABSTRACT
We investigated the risk of coronavirus disease (COVID-19)- patients transmitting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to emergency medical service (EMS) providers, stratified by aerosol-generating procedures (AGP), in King County, Washington, USA, during February 16-July 31, 2020. We conducted a retrospective cohort investigation using a statewide COVID-19 registry and identified 1,115 encounters, 182 with ≥1 AGP. Overall, COVID-19 incidence among EMS personnel was 0.57 infections/10,000 person-days. Incidence per 10,000 person-days did not differ whether or not infection was attributed to a COVID-19 patient encounter (0.28 vs. 0.59; p>0.05). The 1 case attributed to a COVID-19 patient encounter occurred within an at-risk period and involved an AGP. We observed a very low risk for COVID-19 infection attributable to patient encounters among EMS first responders, supporting clinical strategies that maintain established practices for treating patients in emergency conditions.
Keywords
COVID-19; SARS-COV-2; aerosol transmission; aerosol-generating procedures; cardiac arrest; coronavirus disease; emergency medical services; emergency treatment; health occupations; medical first responders; public health; public health readiness; respiratory infections; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; viruses; zoonoses
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Emergency Medical Services
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Emerg Infect Dis
Journal subject:
Communicable Diseases
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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