The optimal location and time for paramedics to wear personal protective equipment that minimize delay in dispatch to cardiac arrest patients

Wearing level D personal protective equipment (PPE) after the first outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become mandatory in Korea. However, PPE use worsened paramedics’ on-scene dispatch. A delayed response to patients experiencing cardiac arrests, could cost them their lives. This study was therefore conducted to determine not only whether PPE wearing affects the dispatch time but also the time difference between wearing PPE inside the ambulance while en route to the scene and wearing PPE outside the ambulance before departure to ascertain the optimal location for paramedics to wear PPE. The response times of paramedics for reaching the cardiac arrest patients before (pre-PPE group) and after (post-PPE group) PPE wearing became mandatory were compared. Forty-five paramedics participated in a PPE-wearing simulation. The total amount of time spent by them wearing PPE was measured outside the ambulance, in the passenger seat, and in the patient care compartment. The median response time for the post-PPE group was 1–1.5 min longer than that for the pre-PPE group for dispatches within 10 km. The average time for PPE suit-up was the shortest outside the ambulance (140.53 s). It was 178.47 s in the passenger seat, whereas it was 151.22 s in the patient care compartment. The response time increased after wearing PPE. PPE suit-up time was shortest outside the ambulance. Considering the wearing time, prognosis, safety of the paramedics, the location at which PPE are worn should be appropriately determined.

Disasters; Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; Emergency medical services; Pandemics; Personal protective equipment

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