The first group of Ukrainian doctors has arrived in Poland and started training in aerial evacuation of wounded soldiers and civilians from a war zone. The training at the Air Ambulance base in Warsaw is taking place as part of the initiative of the First Ladies of Poland and Ukraine.

The National Security Bureau (BBN) said that the training is in response to Ukraine’s needs to prepare medical personnel for activities related to the safety and air evacuation of wounded from the war zone. In January 2023, training on the treatment of victims with severe burns will also be launched.

Cooperation on evacuation is also expected to support the development of Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) structures in Ukraine, based on the standards in force in the European Union.

During the inauguration of training courses for Ukrainian medics, BBN chief Jacek Siewiera stressed that Poland is supporting Ukraine in the building of airborne rescue structures, and further groups of medics are already on their way. In his speech, Siewiera stressed that the Ukrainian state was already working to establish an air ambulance system before the outbreak of war.

“In 2021, a HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service) team – air medical evacuation, was already in operation in Kyiv; there were ambitious plans to develop this medical service for Ukrainian citizens in four more cities, and a close partnership with the Centre of Excellence in Poland, led by director Prof Robert Galązkowski, was being implemented. These plans were disrupted but not interrupted by the war. Today we are returning to these efforts, and your presence here is proof that the war is only a temporary obstacle to the development of a free, sovereign Ukraine”, the BBN chief said.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński