Since February 2022, over half of Ukrainians who have died from their injuries could have been saved if medics and others were properly trained in medic-level lifesaving skills.
The Frontline Medical Ukraine Fund seeks to raise $2.2 million to fund an educational initiative in Ukraine that will save tens of thousands of lives each year.
Medics were educated by physicians in five medical schools in Ukraine until three were destroyed and one severely damaged by the Russians during the 2022 invasion. The Ukrainian military has approximately 27,000 medics. The significant expansion of the Ukrainian ground forces and casualties among medics has resulted in fewer than 20 percent receiving more than two weeks education in pre-hospital medicine before being assigned to their units, as compared with a 16-week education program pre-invasion.
Almost all injured Ukrainian soldiers are two to six hours transport from point of injury to the first physician in the chain of care, and four to six days until they are hospitalized. Consequently, life-threatening injuries must be effectively treated for prolonged periods by medics and other available personnel. This requires an acute and sustained need for both education and training supplies.
The Frontline Medical Ukraine Fund, a Donor Advised Fund of The Columbus Foundation, provides educational teaching aids and used vehicles to support Ukrainian physicians who educate medics. Necessity requires the providers to remain near their assigned organizations, so the education must be done in remote facilities and often in austere areas.
The teaching equipment and vehicles are purchased in the U.S., shipped to Europe in containers, and those sealed containers are transported to the Medical Academy in Ukraine, the agency managing the educational program. Accountability is maintained from point of purchase to transfer of property at the Academy’s headquarters in Kyiv.
Partners:
American College of Surgeons Foundation
Cleveland Maidan Association
Ukraine Military Medical Academy