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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 ReaComments to Author 
Author affiliations: University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA (A. Brown, C.R. Counts, B.Y. Yang, A. Latimer, J. Lynch, P.J. Kudenchuk, M.R. Sayre, T. Rea); Public Health Seattle and King County Division of Emergency Medical Services, Seattle (L. Schwarcz, L.M. Barnard, J.M. Emert, C. Drucker)

Main Article

Table 1

Encounter characteristics 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 encounters
1,115 (100.0)
182 (16.3)
933 (83.7)
Patient age, mean (SD)
68.1 (19.8)
69.4 (18.4)
67.8 (20.1)
Sex
M 563 (50.5) 100 (54.9) 463 (49.6)
F
552 (49.5)
82 (45.1)
470 (50.4)
Location
Home 529 (47.4) 78 (42.9) 451 (48.3)
Long-term care 458 (41.1) 87 (47.8) 371 (39.8)
Public outdoors 50 (4.5) 3 (1.6) 47 (5.0)
Medical clinic or office 38 (3.4) 11 (6.0) 27 (2.9)
Public indoors 21 (1.9) 1 (0.5) 20 (2.1)
Homeless shelter 19 (1.7) 2 (1.1) 17 (1.8)
Other
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Documented signs and symptoms
Fever 467 (41.9) 74 (40.7) 393 (42.1)
Cough 401 (36.0) 65 (35.7) 336 (36.0)
Shortness of breath 472 (42.3) 133 (73.1) 339 (36.3)
Fever/cough/shortness of breath 751 (67.4) 147 (80.8) 604 (64.7)
Sore throat/nasal congestion 79 (7.1) 8 (4.4) 71 (7.6)
GI symptoms 160 (14.3) 23 (12.6) 137 (14.7)
Body aches 175 (15.7) 27 (14.8) 148 (15.9)
Altered mental status 188 (16.9) 39 (21.4) 149 (16.0)
Fatigue/weakness 354 (31.7) 38 (20.9) 316 (33.9)
Headache 37 (3.3) 6 (3.3) 31 (3.3)
Chest pain
75 (6.7)
11 (6.0)
64 (6.9)
Vital signs
Any abnormal vital sign 936 (83.9) 179 (98.4) 757 (81.1)
Heart rate ≥100 bpm 438 (39.3) 87 (47.8) 351 (37.6)
Temperature ≥38°C 573 (51.4) 94 (51.6) 479 (51.3)
Respirations ≥24 breaths/min 378 (33.9) 114 (62.6) 264 (28.3)
Oxygen saturation ≤90 SpO2 292 (26.2) 127 (69.8) 165 (17.7)
Systolic blood pressure ≤90 mm Hg 69 (6.2) 30 (16.5) 39 (4.2)
Glasgow coma scale <12 97 (8.7) 46 (25.3) 51 (5.5)
Glasgow coma scale 13–14 58 (5.2) 20 (11.0) 38 (4.1)
Glasgow coma scale = 15
534 (47.9)
76 (41.8)
458 (49.1)
Patient with cardiac arrest
22 (2.0)
22 (12.1)
Unknown
Initial EMS response type
Respiratory 417 (37.4) 101 (55.5) 316 (33.9)
Fatigue/weakness/malaise 157 (14.1) 8 (4.4) 149 (16.0)
Infection 128 (11.5) 13 (7.1) 115 (12.3)
Behavioral/psychological/intoxication 114 (10.2) 19 (10.4) 95 (10.2)
Other medical 72 (6.5) 2 (1.1) 70 (7.5)
Cardiovascular 64 (5.7) 29 (15.9) 35 (3.8)
Trauma 64 (5.7) 5 (2.7) 59 (6.3)
Abdominal/GU/endocrine 60 (5.4) 3 (1.6) 57 (6.1)
Neurological 39 (3.5) 2 (1.1) 37 (4.0)

*Values are no. (%) except as indicated. AGP, aerosol generating procedure; COVID-19, coronavirus disease; EMS, emergency medical service; GI, gastrointestinal; GU, genitourinary.

Main Article

Page created: June 16, 2021
Page updated: August 17, 2021
Page reviewed: August 17, 2021
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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