Loss of Paramedic Availability in an Urban Emergency Medical Services System during a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Outbreak
| Autor: | Ian W. McClelland, P. Richard Verbeek, Robert J. Burgess, Alexis C. Silverman |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2008 |
| Předmět: |
myalgia
Emergency Medical Services Infectious Disease Transmission Patient-to-Professional Time Factors SARS virus Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome law.invention Disease Outbreaks Sars virus law Occupational Exposure Quarantine Health care Absenteeism medicine Emergency medical services Urban Health Services Humans skin and connective tissue diseases Ontario Infectious disease transmission business.industry Brief Report fungi quarantine Outbreak General Medicine medicine.disease paramedic body regions Hospitalization Emergency Medical Technicians Emergency Medicine Medical emergency medicine.symptom business |
| Zdroj: | Academic Emergency Medicine |
| ISSN: | 1553-2712 1069-6563 |
| Popis: | Objectives: To describe the loss of paramedic availability to Toronto Emergency Medical Services during a biphasic (SARS‐1 and SARS‐2) outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Methods:During the SARS outbreak, a dedicated paramedic surveillance and quarantine program was developed. The authors determined the number of paramedics on quarantine each day, the type of quarantine (either home quarantine [HQ] or work quarantine [WQ]), and the development of SARS‐like symptoms. Results: During the SARS outbreak, there were five cases of probable SARS and three cases of suspect SARS. SARS‐1 lasted 30 days, during which 234 paramedics were placed on HQ. The total number of HQ days was 1,615. During the five peak days of SARS‐1, the total number of HQ days was 664. SARS‐2 lasted 18 days, during which 292 paramedics were placed on either HQ or WQ, for a combined number of quarantine days of 1,637. During the five peak days of SARS‐2, the combined number of quarantine days was 910. Of these, paramedics were available for duty on 708 days (78%) due to the WQ program. The primary reason for quarantine was unprotected exposure to a health care institution experiencing a SARS outbreak. Under quarantine, SARS‐like symptoms developed in 68 paramedics, including cough (53 [78%]), myalgia (33 [48%]), fatigue (30 [44%]), headache (29 [43%]), fever (11 [16%]), and shortness of breath (7 [10%]). Conclusions: Paramedics were among the health care workers who developed SARS. During SARS‐2, WQ optimized the number of days on which paramedics were available for duty. Many paramedics developed SARS‐like symptoms without being diagnosed as having SARS. A dedicated paramedic surveillance and quarantine program provided a useful means to manage the paramedic resource during the SARS outbreak. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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