Document Type : Original Article
Authors
- Milad Ahmadi Gohari 1
- Ali Akbar Haghdoost 1
- Mehdi Ahmadinejad 2
- Mohammadreza Balooch Hasankhani 1
- Hossein Mirzaei 3
- Yones Jahani 1
1 Modeling in Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
2 Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Kerman University of Medical Sciences
3 HIV/STI Surveillance Research Center, WHO Collaborating Center for HIV Surveillance, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Abstract
Objective: With the COVID-19 outbreak in countries around the world, the countries’ healthcare systems
underwent an unprecedented shock. This study aimed to examine the resilience of the medical service delivery
system in providing emergency services during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Methods: This study was conducted in a reference hospital in Kerman that provided emergency services to
trauma patients. It compared service delivery before and after COVID-19, as well as during the COVID-19 peak
and non-peak periods. The compared variables were the number of trauma patients admitted to the hospital and
the ICU, the number of patients who died in the hospital due to trauma, and the length of stay in the hospital
and the ICU.
Results: The pre- and post-COVID-19 comparisons showed no significant difference in the number of daily
hospital admissions, ICU admissions, and patient deaths. The median length of stay in the ICU was significantly
reduced by almost 2 days during the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the length of stay at the hospital was almost
the same. Furthermore, a comparison of the COVID-19 peaks and non-peak periods indicated no statistically
significant difference in the number of admissions in the ICU, hospital and ICU length of stay, and traumainduced mortality.
Conclusion: Despite the substantial workload imposed by COVID-19 on hospitals, especially during the peak
periods of the disease, the provision of medical services to emergency trauma patients did not drop significantly,
and the quality of services provided to patients was within the acceptable range.
Keywords
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