• Azlan Helmy Abd Samat, Mohd Hisham Isa, Dazlin Masdiana Sabardin, Jamal Shamsuriani Md SM, Mohd Johar Jaafar, Faizal Amri Hamzah, Alias Mahmud, Amirudin Sanip, Syed Mohammad Syed Ali, and Saiboon Ismail Mohd IM.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia.
• Ann Acad Med Singap. 2020 Sep 1; 49 (9): 643-651.

IntroductionThis study aims to evaluate the knowledge and confidence of emergency healthcare workers (EHCW) in facing the COVID-19 pandemic.Materials And MethodsA cross-sectional online study using a validated questionnaire was distributed to doctors (MD), assistant medical officers (AMO), and staff nurses (SN) at an urban tertiary Emergency Department. It comprised of 40 knowledge and 10 confidence-level questions related to resuscitation and airway management steps.ResultsA total of 135 from 167 eligible EHCW were enrolled. 68.9% (n = 93) had high knowledge while 53.3% (n = 72) possessed high confidence level. Overall knowledge mean score was 32.96/40 (SD = 3.63) between MD (33.88±3.09), AMO (32.28±4.03), and SN (32.00±3.60), P= 0.025. EHCWs with a length of service (LOS) between 4-10 years had the highest knowledge compared to those with LOS <4-year (33.71±3.39 versus 31.21±3.19 P = 0.002). Airway-related knowledge was significantly different between the designations and LOS (P = 0.002 and P = 0.003, respectively). Overall, EHCW confidence level against LOS showed significant difference [F (2, 132) = 5.46, P = 0.005] with longer LOS showing better confidence. MD showed the highest confidence compared to AMO and SN (3.67±0.69, 3.53±0.68, 3.26±0.64) P = 0.049. The majority EHCW were confident in performing high-quality chest-compression, and handling of Personal Protective Equipment but less than half were confident in resuscitating, leading the resuscitation, managing the airway or being successful in first intubation attempt.ConclusionsEHCW possessed good knowledge in airway and resuscitation of COVID-19 patients, but differed between designations and LOS. A longer LOS was associated with better confidence, but there were some aspects in airway management and resuscitation that needed improvement.

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