Committed care in the shadow of fear: The experiences of emergency medical services staff encountering with COVID-19 patients

Background:By the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, emergency medical services (EMSs) played a key first-line role in patients affected by this disease care. In Iran, EMSs is a main part of health system that has a substantial role in managing emerging crisis and disasters. This study aimed to investigate the experience of the EMSs staff encountering with COVID-19 patients.Materials and Methods:This was a descriptive qualitative study conducted on 14 EMSs staff selected by purposive sampling from August 2021 to September 2022. This study was conducted in the southern part of Iran. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview, and Graneheim, U.H. and Lundman, B. (2004) conventional content analysis method applied for their analysis MAXQDATA 2020 was used to store the interview data and codes. Till reaching data saturation, sampling was continued.Results:Data analysis contributed to the extraction of 783 primary codes, 15 subclasses, 4 classes, and 2 main themes, including "committed care" (with two classes of "respect to the personal identity of the patient" and "facilitators to adhere to care") and "the bottleneck of care in the shadow of fear" (with two classes of "the fine line between fear and responsibility" and "the sacrifice in care").Conclusions:Although there was a fear of encountering COVID-19 patients among the EMSs staff, they provided devotional and committed care to patients considering moral values and human principles. Health policymakers should minimize the challenges of EMSs staff encountering with emerging infectious diseases with effective planning.