Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Toward Coronavirus Disease 2019 and the Risks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection Among Iranian Emergency Medical Services Workers: An Online Cross-Sectional Survey.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a severe acute respiratory infection, has spread rapidly around the world. To expand and enhance knowledge regarding virus prevention/transmission, this study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of emergency medical services (EMS) workers as a part of the health care system because of their essential role in the front lines of the COVID-19 outbreak. METHODS: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted on EMS workers to assess their knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19. The questionnaire included 5 topics demographic information, knowledge and attitude questions, professional behavior of employees during the epidemic, and anxiety score. RESULTS: A total of 86 EMS workers answered the questionnaire, and 55.63% of the respondents answered the knowledge questions correctly; knowledge appeared to have no correlation to their education, age, or experience. In addition, there was no apparent correlation between the infection rate and exposure to an infected or suspected patient. CONCLUSION: The findings of the present study indicate that more than half of the EMS workers have good knowledge about the epidemic, and the level of knowledge was not related to their demographic characteristics. The results of professional behaviors showed a high level of compliance with the principles and guidelines by workers, and the absence of a relationship between employees' contamination and exposure to infected patients supports the awareness and legality of EMS workers.