SOURCES OF STRESS AND NEEDS OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE PROFESSIONALS IN THE PERIOD OF THE FIRST WAVE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN SLOVAKIA

The aim of this study was to identify the most important sources of stress and the possibilities of supporting its management in emergency medical workers during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia. A thematic analysis of the answers in a sample of 66 members of emergency medical staff to the open-ended questions of the online questionnaire brought as the most burdensome issues concerning the threat to their own safety and the safety of their close relatives; difficulties in ensuring optimal care for acute, although non-covid patients; changes in the quality and quantity of normal working practices; emotional tension between colleagues and difficulties in the overall management of the pandemic. Insufficient support from employers and the system, worsened opportunities to meet their basic needs, insufficient opportunities for rest outside the service, stigma, and insufficient support from the public complicated management of named loads for some respondents. Adequate specialized training and material equipment, recognition and support, better financial rewards, ample opportunities for rest and regeneration including specialized psychosocial care, were considered by respondents to be measures taken by employers and the health care system that could reduce the adverse effects of increased burdens.