Determination by simulation of the typical profile and values ​​of healthcare professionals who will decide to get involved in or withdraw from the care of patients with COVID-19.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is receiving widespread media coverage due to the deaths attributable to it. Health centres in Canada are monitoring its development and are attentive to the appearance of any new cases. This viral disease can be frightening and health professionals may fear for their safety or that of others when intervening with infected people. This choice to intervene or withdraw from care is generally easy to make in the absence of a real threat and is subject to a rational and conscious process. However, when a person is subjected to a real and imminent threat, they feel stress and fear. This fear, rational or irrational, plays an important role in the decision to intervene or flee. Currently, we do not know how health professionals react when faced with an imminent threat such as SARS-CoV-2. We do not know the profile of people who would agree to intervene, nor that of people who would prefer not to. In this study, we want to create an authentic simulation environment reproducing an epidemic situation. Randomly selected participants (nurses, doctors and attendants) in five Canadian healthcare institutions will be called upon to intervene with people infected with the coronavirus. Through this in situ simulation, we seek to reproduce the mental state in which the healthcare professional will find themselves when intervening with this population. We will thus be able to determine the profile of people ready to intervene, using qualitative and quantitative analysis. Hospitals will be able to use the results to determine the people likely to intervene effectively and efficiently in the event of a major outbreak in order to reduce the organizational and human risks of the epidemic.