Volume 27, Number 9—September 2021
Research
Risk for Acquiring Coronavirus Disease Illness among Emergency Medical Service Personnel Exposed to Aerosol-Generating Procedures
Aubrey Brown, Leilani Schwarcz, Catherine R. Counts, Leslie M. Barnard, Betty Y. Yang, Jamie M. Emert, Andrew Latimer, Christopher Drucker, John Lynch, Peter J. Kudenchuk, Michael R. Sayre, and Thomas Rea
Table 2
Patient outcome emergency medical service care and by aerosol generating procedure status among COVID-19 patients, King County, Washington, February 16–July 31, 2020*
| Characteristic | All encounters | AGP encounters | Non–AGP encounters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unique EMS providers |
1,592 |
567 |
1,025 |
| EMS encounters | 1,115 | 182 | 933 |
| ALS unit dispatched | 171 (15.3) | 98 (53.8) | 73 (7.8) |
| EMS suspicion of COVID-19 | 715 (64.1) | 132 (72.5) | 583 (62.5) |
| Low-flow oxygen |
188 (16.9) |
34 (18.7) |
154 (16.5) |
| AGP types | |||
| Nonrebreather | 139 (12.5) | 139 (76.4) | NA |
| Simple face mask | 5 (0.4) | 5 (2.7) | NA |
| Medication therapy | 13 (1.2) | 13 (7.1) | NA |
| Metered dose inhaler | 4 (0.4) | 4 (2.2) | NA |
| Nebulizer | 9 (0.8) | 9 (4.9) | NA |
| NiPPV | 48 (4.3) | 48 (26.4) | NA |
| CPAP | 6 (0.5) | 6 (3.3) | NA |
| Bag-valve-mask ventilation | 42 (3.8) | 42 (23.1) | NA |
| Suction | 4 (0.4) | 4 (2.2) | NA |
| Advanced airways | 32 (2.9) | 32 (17.6) | NA |
| Supraglottic airway | 3 (0.3) | 3 (1.6) | NA |
| Endotracheal intubation |
29 (2.6) |
29 (15.9) |
NA |
| AGP frequency per encounter | |||
| 0 | 933 (83.7) | 0 | 933 (100) |
| 1 | 138 (12.4) | 138 (75.8) | NA |
| ≥2 |
44 (3.9) |
44 (24.2) |
NA |
| Disposition | |||
| Not transported | 245 (22.0) | 21 (11.5) | 224 (24.0) |
| BLS transport | 759 (68.1) | 108 (59.3) | 651 (69.8) |
| ALS transport | 86 (7.7) | 53 (29.1) | 33 (3.5) |
| Private vehicle | 17 (1.5) | 0 | 17 (1.8) |
| Air ambulance |
1 (0.1) |
1 (0.5) |
0 |
| Patient mortality as of 2020 Dec 1 | 373 (33.5) | 103 (56.6) | 270 (28.9) |
*Values are no. (%). AGP, aerosol generating procedure; ALS, advanced life support; COVID-19, coronavirus disease; CPAP, continuous positive airway pressure; EMS, emergency medical service; NA, not applicable; NiPPV, noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation.
Page created: June 16, 2021
Page updated: August 17, 2021
Page reviewed: August 17, 2021
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