Themes by tag: doctors

The founder of Repower charitable foundation, Maryna Sadykova, was an event organizer before the full-scale invasion. After February 24, 2022, her team began to help the military. Due to active volunteer work, the woman began to feel psychological exhaustion and constant anxiety. So, she went to the Carpathians to recover. This experience prompted Maryna to start a program of psychological support: at first, she wanted to help military volunteers like her, but the financial resources of the foundation were limited. That’s why the team decided to focus on medics who save the lives of soldiers at the front, and the Repower project was founded in Kyiv to restore the mental health of Ukrainian combat medics. Maryna’s team created a sustainable program of psychological support – a 10-day retreat in Sweden. Together with medics, Ukrainian psychologists go abroad as well. The 10-day program consists of psychological exercises, individual sessions, group meetings, art therapy, music therapy, etc. As of now, the charitable foundation has managed to organize 3 trips for 300 participants.

• doctors
• psychological support
• volunteers
• women

When Mykola Iliichuk found himself face to face with the harsh reality of a full-scale enemy invasion during his fifth year at Bukovinian State Medical University, he didn’t hesitate to answer the call to arms. Offered a chance to join the Donbas battalion, he dove headfirst into the fray, defending Ukraine’s eastern frontier. Despite being thrust into the role of a mortar operator, Mykola remained true to his roots in medicine. Armed with essential supplies, he stood ready to provide critical first aid to his fellow soldiers at a moment’s notice.

Today, Mykola serves as a combat medic within the prominent Ukrainian army unit Da Vinci Wolves Battalion, all while continuing his studies remotely. Despite the challenges of war, he remains determined to expand his medical expertise. While primarily focused on intensive care skills on the frontline, his ultimate aspiration is to perform surgery. Whenever possible, he eagerly assists in operating rooms, where he works tirelessly to save the lives of his comrades.

For reference: Mykola Iliichuk is currently stationed in Lviv and welcomes interviews with journalists, both in-person and online, with prior arrangement.

• doctors
• military
• Lviv

On February 10, Lviv will host a charity sports event for lower limb amputees. The event aiming to test patients’ running specific prostheses feet is organized by the Superhumans Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Center. The prosthetic feet functional testing will be run as a comparative evaluation involving not only patients but also specialists from various rehabilitation centers and media representatives. The competitors will play soccer, basketball, and volleyball together having their running prostheses on. 

In addition, Superhumans will attract several prosthetists (physical therapists) from other rehabilitation centers to engage in teaching patients using prosthetics how to fit and operate running prostheses.

• casualties
• doctors
• Lviv

Iryna Kulbach has been the chair of the University Hospital Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Dnipro for 23 years. At the beginning of the all-out invasion, the doctors there had to deliver babies in a shelter.

On December 29, 2023, a Russian missile struck the maternity ward. A fire broke out there, and the blast wave smashed about 900 windows in the hospital. That day, Iryna and other doctors were on duty. The team responded quickly to the situation: women in labor with newborns, pregnant women, and the patients’ families were moved to shelters in advance. As a result of the attack, the maternity hospital building caught fire producing smoke, so Iryna and other specialists evacuated all the people to save their lives.

Recently, the President of Ukraine awarded Iryna Kulbach with the Honored Doctor of Ukraine award. In addition, she received the medal “For Merit to the City”.

For reference: The damage caused by the enemy shelling is still being assessed. 30 employees of the maternity ward were transferred to other departments of the hospital, and 20 are currently unemployed.

For reference: February 24, 2024, Ukraine marks 2 years since Russia commenced its unprovoked criminal full-scale invasion. This attack was the culmination of the initial war of aggression that Russia has been waging against Ukraine for 10 years. This armed conflict was ignited on February 20, 2014. Back then, Russians invaded the territory of Ukrainian Crimea giving no obvious sign of its covert military operation in the now-occupied peninsula. After that, Russia started a war in Ukraine’s east.

• children
• doctors
• russian crimes
• women
• Dnipro

With the onset of the full-blown war, Ihor Kazio, a dentist with 15 years of experience, decided to stay in the capital and help the citizens. Ihor, his father, and brother, who belong to the same profession, provided free-of-charge services when the Russian military convoy closed in on the capital and most medical facilities in Kyiv were closed.

After the invaders were driven out of the Kyiv region, Ihor started looking for ways to help the military who could not leave the front line to see a dentist. This is how the Kazo Mobile Dental project—mobile dentistry in a mobile setting that helps soldiers near the front line, was born. A team of doctors ready to work in the frontline regions was assembled quite quickly: specialists from different cities responded to the call. Each of their trips lasts at least two weeks. Kazo Mobile Dental has already made three visits to the frontline regions and performed dental treatment for more than a thousand soldiers. Now the team is preparing for their next trip, which will take place on February 8.

For reference: Kazo Mobile Dental is ready to communicate with journalists, both online and offline, by prior arrangement.

• doctors
• military
• volunteers

29-year-old Yevhen Koptiaiev volunteered for mobilization in the Defense Forces since the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The soldier fought in the Donetsk sector, where he got seriously injured during an assault. Yevhen was shot through his helmet by an enemy bullet causing an entry wound in his ear and exit in his eye. The bullet also hit the front bones shattering his skull and tearing out his under-eye muscles. With those injuries, Yevhen crawled more than two kilometers to reach Ukrainian counterparts’ positions. The military veteran says he realized how badly he was injured being already halfway to his comrades: trying to touch his nose, his three fingers passed right through the mutilated bones of his skull and jaw.

Yevhen was first treated in Vinnytsia, having reconstructive surgery to his skull: five titanium implants were used for his face reconstruction. After the treatment, Yevhen had to get another one, because one of the plates didn’t adapt to the body defect ultimately leading to the body rejecting the implant and provoking inflammation. So a team of foreign doctors from Face the future Ukraine took over Yevhen’s treatment. The surgeons removed the failed implant, restored the lacrimal glands, and transplanted the man’s skin under the eye. Three months have passed since Yevhen’s last surgery. The wounds on his face have almost healed. Now the veteran has returned to Kryvyi Rih, where his wife and two children live.

For reference: “Face the future Ukraine” is a mission of reconstructive surgeons from Canada and the US, a joint effort of world experts and their Ukrainian colleagues, to restore physical health and aesthetic beauty to those who were disfigured by enemy fire. They also work with soldiers who have suffered injuries to their face and neck at the front line.

• casualties
• doctors
• military

Oleksii Prytula is a veterinarian from Odesa. During the full-scale invasion, he decided to join the defense of the country. In September 2022, he was seriously injured and lost both legs. Despite this adversity, he returned to work.

The man received prostheses and underwent rehabilitation at the Superhumans Center in Lviv. The veteran’s employer arranged a special workplace for him. So Oleksii can resume his work treating his four-legged patients.

• animals
• casualties
• doctors
• military
• Odesa

On January 26, a three-day basic tactical medicine course (ASM NAEMT), designed for military personnel and those who are preparing themselves for combat starts in Kyiv. Among other things, the course participants will learn how to assess the tactical situation, safely move the injured victims, recognize and stop severe bleeding, and provide assistance in case of head injuries, burns, fractures, etc.

The volunteers from the Hospitallers medical battalion regularly hold training sessions. All proceeds paid by the course participants directed to support the battalion’s work.

Journalists have the opportunity to cover the training sessions.

For reference: The Hospitallers medical battalion has been working at the front since 2014. Its crews carry out dozens of evacuations day by day along almost the entire front line. It has also been teaching tactical medicine since 2015 and first aid basics since 2018. The instructors are certified by NAEMT (American National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians), UVMA (Ukrainian Military Medical Academy), and other organizations.

• doctors
• Kyiv

KoLeSo (Wheel) is a network of educational and training centers for tactical medicine (Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia). The network’s founder, Olha Omelchuk, has been a medical instructor in the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 2014.

Since March 2022, about 38,000 people, both military and civilians, have received free pre-medical care training at the centers. The courses are based on the tactical protocol — Tactical Combat Casualty Care.

The training (tactical first aid in combat) spans a 6-hour course, which includes both theoretical and practical components. After that, participants have the opportunity to engage in online workshops facilitated by the instructors, which will help revise the material. Additionally, participants can opt to participate in “Module 2” and successfully pass the exam and obtain a certificate.

Journalists can cover the training and talk to the students. If they wish, journalists can also undergo training.

• doctors
• Kyiv

Sviatoslav Nikolaichuk became the founder of “Genesis & System Solutions” center for the rehabilitation of veterans in Vinnytsia. In 2015, the man voluntarily joined the Defense Forces and served as a signalman in the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade. Sviatoslav served for one and a half years, participated in the battles near Popasna, Luhansk region (now the city has been completely destroyed by the russians and is under occupation). He was discharged after the birth of his third child.

With the beginning of the big war, the veteran volunteered, and later began to create a rehabilitation center to help soldiers, who have lost their limbs, manage phantom pains.

One of the servicemen who have already walked this path is the veteran of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykyta Makazan, who had lost his leg near Bakhmut, Donetsk region. Virtual reality helped the man to get rid of phantom pain – the same technology will be used in “Genesis & System Solutions.” The assistance to veterans will be provided using modern equipment. For this purpose, they purchased virtual reality glasses, two laptops, suspension systems and special exercise bikes for the rehabilitation of the upper and lower limbs. The center received financial support worth UAH 2.5 million from the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation. In addition to virtual reality, the center will also feature traditional rehabilitation. Currently, the facility is already accepting veterans, and will officially open on January 29. 

• casualties
• doctors
• Vinnytsia