Care in Ukraine is carried out with great difficulties. Ukrainian field hospitals have become military targets, but now one such has been dug down into the ground in an attempt to hide it from the enemy.
Healthcare professionals are particularly vulnerable, says Lieutenant Colonel Jurij Palamartjuk, head of the underground hospital's surgical unit, to The Washington Post.
They do not hide behind armor. During evacuations in the field, they do not think of anyone other than the injured. The Russians know this – they hunt healthcare professionals. It is targeted terror.
No beds
The hospital performs numerous operations, amputations, resuscitations, and other emergency interventions. But there are no beds, since it is not intended for patients to stay. They can be resuscitated, stabilized, and operated on but not admitted overnight, says Captain Oleksij, who is responsible for the facility.
No overnight stays. You wake up the patient – and send them out, he says to the magazine.
Long travel times
The underground hospital is located near the front, where it is often urgent to get the injured to care. Long travel times can significantly worsen the situation for patients.
The hospital is a prototype, but Oleksij, who does not want to give his last name, says it works well and that the hope is that the government will build more.
According to Ukrainian statistics, Russia has carried out 1,957 attacks on healthcare facilities since the war began in February 2022. In over 1,000 of them, hospitals or clinics were damaged or destroyed. 274 healthcare professionals have been reported dead.
Russia has not commented on the information.
