Volunteer medics in converted bus transport wounded Ukrainian soldiers to hospital

Record ID: 1719850

  • Title: Volunteer medics in converted bus transport wounded Ukrainian soldiers to hospital
  • Date: 11th April 2023
  • Summary: UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, DONETSK REGION, UKRAINE (APRIL 11, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MEDICAL VOLUNTEERS LOADING WOUNDED SOLDIER ON STRETCHERS INTO BUS-TURNED-AMBULANCE VARIOUS OF MEDICAL VOLUNTEERS PLACING WOUNDED SOLDIER ON STRETCHER INSIDE BUS AMBULANCE ON ROAD BETWEEN DONETSK REGION AND DNIPRO, UKRAINE (APRIL 11, 2023) (REUTERS) VITAL SIGNS MONITOR, WOUNDED SOLDIER WITH BANDAGED HEAD WEARING OXYGEN MASK MEDICAL VOLUNTEER CHECKING SYRINGE PULSE OXIMETER ON SOLDIER’S FINGER MEDICAL VOLUNTEER CHECKING ON SOLDIER WOUNDED SOLDIER WITH BANDAGED HEAD WEARING OXYGEN MASK (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) MEDICAL VOLUNTEER, 23, MARIIA (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING: “People whom are being transported now were wounded in action. We are providing them with medical aid to make sure they are in stable condition and will make it to the hospital safe and sound where they will be given proper medical treatment.” VARIOUS OF VOLUNTEER DRIVING BUS AMBULANCE WOUNDED SOLDIERS ON STRETCHERS IN BUS AMBULANCE VARIOUS OF MEDICAL VOLUNTEER CHECKING SOLDIER’S VITAL SIGNS WOUNDED SOLDIERS IN BUS AMBULANCE (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) MEDICAL VOLUNTEER, 23, MARIIA (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING: “From petrol to syringes and wet wipes, all supplies are provided by the volunteers and sponsors. During two-week rotation this bus evacuates approximately 100 people. This bus has been operational for around two months, so we evacuated nearly 600 people. This bus makes a whole difference as it saves people’s lives.” VARIOUS OF MEDICAL VOLUNTEERS CUTTING OFF SOLDIER’S TROUSERS AND TENDING HIM SHOULDER PATCH READING (Ukrainian): “HOSPITALLERS” MEDICAL VOLUNTEERS TENDING WOUNDED SOLDIERS (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) DOCTOR, 22, VOLODYMYR (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING: “It is very important for me because I have connection to what we are doing. I work in the field which I know and where I am confident that I will do my best. Each of us has a mission and this is my mission.” VARIOUS OF MEDICAL VOLUNTEER ASSISTING WOUNDED SOLDIER TO DRINK WATER WOUNDED SOLDIER IN OXYGEN MASK INTRAVENOUS DRIP VARIOUS OF SITTING SOLDIERS RESTING ON THEIR WAY TO HOSPITAL (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) TRAINEE DOCTOR, 22, VOLODYMYR (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING: “At the moment, there is one operational bus only, the one we are using now. But we bought two more buses. We are equipping them and they will be operational in the nearest future. I cannot tell you when exactly, but I think that in a month or two they will be fully operational.” DNIPRO, UKRAINE (APRIL 11, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WOUNDED SOLDIERS BEING CARRIED OUT OF BUS ON STRETCHERS
  • Embargoed: 25th April 2023 12:40
  • Keywords: Bakhmut Russian invasion eastern Ukraine war in Ukraine
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, UKRAINE
  • City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, UKRAINE
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe,Military Conflicts,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA001414111042023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Under the cover of darkness near the frontline in eastern Ukraine, medical volunteers loaded wounded soldiers into a bus converted into an ambulance to bring them to a military hospital in the city of Dnipro.
    Named "Avstriika Bus" after the military call sign of an Austrian volunteer who worked on a similar coach before she was killed in a traffic accident, the bus is part of Ukraine's Hospitallers Medical Battalion that evacuates troops across Ukraine.
    Paramedic Mariia, 23, told Reuters that during two-week rotation she and her team evacuate some hundred wounded soldiers.
    “This bus has been operational for around two months, so we evacuated nearly 600 people. This bus makes a whole difference as it saves people’s lives,” she added.
    The battle for Bakhmut has been one of the bloodiest of the 13-month war, drawing comparisons with World War One due to massive casualties on both sides.
    Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed and wounded on both sides of the conflict since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February.
    Among Hospitallers are trained medics and paramedics as well as those who do not have medical background.
    Volodymyr, 23, who did not give his last name, is still undergoing his medical training as a doctor.
    "I work in the field which I know and where I am confident that I will do my best. Each of us has a mission and this is my mission," he said.
    The initiative involves teams of volunteers rotating and spending several weeks on call, ready for when soldiers need moving further from the frontline.
    The ambulance bus project is part of a wider network of evacuation teams in Ukraine, linking soldiers in trenches to small teams in rear positions, then to field hospitals, small nearby facilities and eventually to large centres in serious enough cases.
    (Production: Manuel Ausloos, Margaryta Chornokondratenko)
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