Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the availability of resources, personal protective equipment PPE) and beliefs amongst Emergency Medical Services (EMS) professionals in Makkah city. Also, we aimed to assess various aspects of how Emergency Medical Services are handling the COVID-19 pandemic via online self-administrated questionnaire.
 Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on a convenience sample of 276 EMS providers from the city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia during the period from July 2020 to June 2021. SPSS (version 21.0) was used for data entry and data analysis. We approximate a 95% confidence interval (±0.05).
 Results: Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and paramedics are representing most of the participants, 44% and 43%, respectively. EMS doctor, EMS registered nurse and others represent the remaining 13%. When the participants assessed their level of satisfaction on how their institutions have handled the pandemic, 34% expressed that they were satisfied, 14% were very satisfied, while 21% and 13% expressed that they were dissatisfied and very dissatisfied. On the availability of resources, 42% had access to N95 masks whenever they needed access to them while 33% did not have access.
 Conclusion: As the study demonstrates a relationship between the capability of emergency medical services personnel to handle a pandemic like COVID-19 and institutional preparedness, there are still significant gaps in EMS personnel's PPE training. EMS agencies should be supported in their efforts to effectively prepare their workers while the pandemic continues in our communities. Therefore, institutions should adopt guidelines that stipulate care for patients with COVID-19, provide training to emergency personnel, and properly distribute resources and PPE.
Highlights
The first case of coronavirus (COVID-19) infection was confirmed in Wuhan, China in December 2019 [1]
When evaluated based on provider level, the majority of the participants were EMT and paramedics accounting for 44% and 43%, respectively, while the respiratory therapists were the minority with 0.4% and EMS registered nurses represent 5% while EMS doctors 4%
This study found that approximately onethird of participants were satisfied with their institution’s response to COVID-19, which is similar to the findings of a previous study regarding the perception of the response to natural disasters and disease outbreaks [36]
Summary
The first case of coronavirus (COVID-19) infection was confirmed in Wuhan, China in December 2019 [1]. Saudi Arabia confirmed its first case in March 2020, shortly before COVID19 was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020 [2]. By June 8, 2020, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide was 6,799,713, and the number of deaths was 377,388 in 216 countries [3]. Few studies have been conducted in this domain around the world, and no such studies have been conducted in Makkah or Saudi Arabia [5]. Countries have been developing and improving their medical systems to effectively address these emergencies [7]. Despite these preparations, COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly as asymptomatic individuals can spread the virus during its incubation period [8]
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