VIEWS OF THE PRE-HOSPITAL HEALTHWORKERS IN THE TRANSFER OF COVID-19 PATIENTS TO THE HOSPITAL AND MANAGEMENT A QUALITATIVE STUDY

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to make an assessment based on the opinions of pre-hospital HCWs, who provide the first care to patients during the pandemic and who work in patient transport or within the pre-hospital emergency medical services (PEMS) system. A case study was conducted with qualitative research methods from the literature. While analyzing the experiences through the eyes of the HCWs, it was witnessed that they had gained experiencial knowledge from previous epidemics and that although they had been tested very hard professionally, they never stopped fighting the pandemic. It was observed that not only society but more specifically HCWs had to deal with enormous risks due to the insufficient awareness of COVID-19. Though they experienced a great sense of professional satisfaction and gained experience, they were tested by the difficult conditions of the pandemic, both professionally and personally. The main defense system for societies against the COVID-19 pandemic—in which prevention methods, treatments, and vaccines are continously discussed and high levels of worldwide uncertainty prevails—are HCWs; therefore, the events they experience throughout this unique period in time should be recorded in history.