The Possible Factors Correlated with the Higher Risk of Getting Infected by COVID-19 in Emergency Medical Technicians; A Case-Control Study

Objective: to assess the possible factors associated with increasing risk of covid-19 among emts.methods: this study was a case-control study conducted in tehran, iran. case group was consisted of confirmed covid-19 emts based on the results of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and/or lung computed tomography scan. healthy emts were randomly selected as control group. patients were asked to fill out a checklist including demographic data, data related to the work situation (such as number of missions and type of mask and cloth) and ppe precautions. results: sixty-eight patients and 148 healthy persons took part in this study as case and control group, respectively. having two emts involved directly in taking care of patients (p<0.001) and working with a confirmed case teammate (p<0.001), considering the precautions such as seal check after wearing the mask (p=0.015), covering the hair with a medical hat (p<0.001), not using personal items despite protective clothing (p<0.001), and avoiding contact with the outer surface of clothing while removing (p<0.001) had significant difference in two groups. conclusion: we found that the type and method of use of ppe were correlated with the increasing risk of covid-19 in emts. also, we found that when two emts were involved directly in taking care of the patients, and those who worked with a confirmed case teammate, more frequently affected.