24 February marks 2 years of war in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the conflict, Mehad has been involved in the field through training for carers and, since last December, with a programme to rehabilitate war-wounded.
With over 12 years’ experience of war medicine in Syria, it was only natural that Mehad should also decide to support the civilian population in Ukraine from the start of the conflict two years ago.
Ukraine, Syria: two fields of action, a similar war
The war situation in Ukraine bears many similarities to the war in Syria, hence Mehad’s legitimacy in this new field of action.
Both wars are total wars, with no distinction between civilian and military populations, particularly when it comes to bombing.
Untrained medical staff find themselves having to deal with an influx of patients who have fallen victim to fighting, bombardments, chemical attacks or mine explosions, in addition to their day-to-day health care. All this in a deteriorated situation, with establishments lacking resources and staff.
Similarly, the nature of the injuries and the importance of first aid is similar in both conflict areas, requiring specific training for first aiders and nursing staff alike. In these war situations, one casualty in two dies within the first hour. The “damage control” training aims to teach the right reflexes for stabilising victims and transporting them to hospital.
Once in hospital, the stabilisation and survival of victims, especially in an immediate or absolute emergency, again requires special resuscitation and life-saving surgery, which requires specific training in war surgery.
Training to save lives
Every month, Mehad trains an average of 210 to 530 medical staff in Ukraine, with courses focusing on protection against chemical weapons, damage control, pain management, clinical simulation and war surgery. A total of 12 different courses are run.
In order to better adapt to the particularly unpredictable security situation, these training courses are being organised on a mobile basis, in hotels with places to fall back and evacuate quickly in the event of an attack.
This training initiative for healthcare professionals, carried out with the support of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is essential: one trained healthcare professional means many lives saved!
Repairing bodies and souls: our work with the war-wounded
Since the beginning of December, Mehad has also been involved in a programme to rehabilitate the war-wounded, taking over from Médecins sans Frontières in this area.
At our two centres in Vinnytsia and Kiev, war-wounded patients, who have often had one or more limbs amputated, receive a full range of care, from physical recovery to psychological and social support.
“When I arrived here, I couldn’t move my arm or lift anything normally,” says Oleksandr*, one of the patients cared for by Mehad’s teams, who was the victim of a missile strike. ” The therapists did everything they could to get my arm working normally again fairly quickly”, he explains, “including massages, electrical stimulation and various physical activities, such as stretching the arm. Larysa, the psychologist, also helped me to get rid of all my negative thoughts, and the social worker came straight away when I was admitted to the rehabilitation centre.
In total, the capacity of our two rehabilitation centres is 55 patients a day.
With the conflict dragging on and the need for intervention constantly increasing, your support is vital if we are to continue and expand our work in Ukraine!
