RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF INTERVENTIONS PERFORMED BY EMERGENCY MEDICAL TEAMS IN POLAND BEFORE AND DURING THE SARS COV-2 PANDEMIC

Introduction: The SARS-CoV-2 virus was recognized in December 2019 in China. From that moment it has quickly spread around the whole world. It causes COVID-19 disease manifested by breathlessness, coughing and high temperature. The COVID-19 pandemic has become a great challenge for humanity. The aim: To analyze interventions of emergency medical teams during the SAR-CoV-2 pandemic, and to compare obtained data with the same periods in 2018-2019. Material and methods: The study retrospectively analyzed interventions of emergency medical teams in the period from 15.03 to 15.05 in 2018 - 2020. 1,479,530 interventions of emergency medical teams were included in the study. The number of interventions, reasons for calls, and diagnoses made by heads of the emergency medical teams during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic were compared to the same period in 2018-2019. Results: Authors observed the decline in the number of interventions performed by emergency medical teams during the pandemic in relation to earlier years by approximately 25%. The big decline concerned interventions that were the reason for calls to public places, such as "traffic accident" and "collapse". In the case of diagnoses made by the head of the emergency medical team, the diagnoses regarding stroke or sudden cardiac arrest remained at the similar level. Others showed a marked decline. Conclusions: Reduced social activity contributed to a reduced number of interventions by emergency medical teams in public places. The societal fear of the unknown also contributed to the decrease in the number of interventions performed by emergency medical teams. People began to avoid contact with other people.