COVID-lateral Damage: Impact of the Post-COVID-19 Era on Procedural Training in Emergency Medicine Residency

INTRODUCTION: Hospitalizations during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic peaked in New York in March–April 2020. In the months following, emergency department (ED) volumes declined. Our objective in this study was to examine the effect of this decline on the procedural experience of emergency medicine (EM) residents compared to the pre-pandemic period. METHODS: We conducted this multicenter, retrospective cohort study of patients seen and key procedures performed by EM residents at hospitals spanning three Accreditation Committee for Graduate Medical Education-approved EM residencies in New York City and Nassau County, NY. We obtained numbers of procedures performed during May–July 2020 and compared them to the same time period for 2019 and 2018. We a priori classified critical care procedures—cardioversion, central lines, chest tubes, procedural sedation, and endotracheal intubation. We also studied “fast-track” procedures—fracture/joint reduction, incision and drainage (I&D), laceration repairs, and splints. RESULTS: Total number of critical care procedures in the months following the COVID-19 peak decreased from 694 to 606 (−12.7%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 10.3–15.4%), compared to an increase from 642 to 694 (+8.1%, 95% CI 6.1–10.5%) the previous year (difference −9.3%). Total number of fast-track procedures decreased from 5,253 to 3,369 (−35.9%, 95% CI 34.6–37.2%), compared to a decrease from 5,333 to 5,253 (−1.5%, 95% CI 1.2–1.9%) the year before (difference −36.3%). Specific critical care procedures performed in 2020 compared to the mean of 2019 and 2018 as follows: cardioversion −33.3%; central lines +19.0%; chest tubes −27.9%; procedural sedation −30.8%; endotracheal intubation −13.8%. Specific fast-track procedures: reductions +33.3%; I&D −48.6%; laceration repair −17.3%; and splint application −49.8%. CONCLUSION: Emergency medicine residents’ critical and fast-track procedural experience at five hospitals was reduced during the months following the COVID-19 peak in comparison to a similar period in the two years prior. Training programs may consider increasing simulation-lab and cadaver-lab experiences, as well as ED and critical care rotations for their residents to offset this trend.