If like me you’ve been wondering how Ukraine, daily subjected to the intense and relentless Russian onslaught has been coping with the multitudes of severely wounded, the answer lies in the amazing work being done by both the Ukrainians themselves and the EU.
From the very onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the EU quickly realized that Ukraine would not be able, on her own, to handle the specialized care that many of the wounded … both civilian and soldiers on the battlefield, would need. The European Commission established the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) ... a standard operating procedure for the medical evacuation of displaced people from Ukraine in need of medical care.
Poland: EU opens medical evacuations hub to facilitate transfers of Ukrainian patients
“The number of wounded people in Ukraine grows every day, and hospitals already short in supplies are struggling to keep up with the needs. At the same time, the destruction of healthcare facilities deprives chronically ill patients of the treatment they need to survive. We cannot abandon these people. In response, the EU steps up its medical evacuation operations of Ukrainian patients with a new hub near Rzeszow, Poland. The Medevac hub will play a key role in transferring the patients swiftly to hospitals across Europe. I want to thank all countries who have offered to accept the patients from Ukraine and help save their lives. This is a true example of EU solidarity.”
civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/...
It is worth noting that within a month(March 2022) of the Russian full scale invasion
1,143 Ukrainian patients in need of medical evacuation have been transferred to 18 European countries, including Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Romania, Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Lithuania, Finland, Poland and the Czech Republic.
civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/...
And that number is now exponentially higher. To ensure that the medical evacuations did not take needlessly long time from Ukraine to hospitals outside of Ukraine, the EU decided to base the medevac operations in the city of Rzeszów in southeastern Poland which had already become a hub for U.S. and NATO activities in support of Ukraine:
The city, some 45 miles from Ukraine’s border, has become the main gateway for western allies to ship weapons and humanitarian aid, dispatch wounded soldiers to hospitals around Europe and for world leaders to land at its small airport before taking a train to the Ukrainian capital.
www.ft.com/...
..
The “Flying Hospitals” flying regularly out of Rzeszów described as “... small intensive care unit in the air" have become necessary because:
Bombings of hospitals, maternity wards and medical storage units mean almost half a million people a month are deprived of medical care
www.voanews.com/...
More Here(with photos):
The Flying Hospital Saving Ukraine's Wounded
www.rferl.org/...
What is notable in all of this is that the European country that is the linchpin in this huge effort is not even a member country of the EU. NORWAY, although closely affiliated with the EU, is not a signatory to the European Union. And yet by the quality, depth and breadth of its contributions, Norway is leading and almost singlehandedly paying for this huge humanitarian effort in Ukraine. And just this week Norway once again affirmed its intention to continue supporting medical evacuation from Ukraine:
Norway to extend agreement on medical evacuation from Ukraine
The Norwegian Government has decided to extend its agreement with the EU on the evacuation of Ukrainian patients until 31 March 2026. In addition to transport for medical evacuation, Norway is providing expertise and deliveries of medical equipment, medications and other material assistance
The European Commission has described Norway’s efforts as a cornerstone of the European medical evacuation support for Ukraine. (emphasis mine). Many countries have available hospital capacity but do not have the means to transport patients. Norway’s cooperation with the EU helps to ensure better coordinated and more streamlined use of hospital capacity in Europe, which in turn reduces the burden on health care services in Ukraine.
reliefweb.int/....
ADAPTIVE INDOMITABLE UKRAINE … with help from its friends will overcome Putin’s revanchism and Krasnov’s maddening jiggery-pokery.
SLAVA UKRAINI !! PEREMOHA(victory) !!!
