The Netherlands handed over four mobile hospitals to the border guard service
Four field hospitals of two different types have been delivered to the Lviv region from the Netherlands. The first type is a mobile hospital with the main purpose of providing first aid and casualty evacuation. The second type is an extended version that provides a broader scope of medical services.
Bart Kroesen, the supplier of the medical aid, says that he came from the Netherlands to deliver the aid to medical workers of the border guard service.
The hospitals have been provided by the Dutch government. Special training was organized for medical workers.
"First, we’ve deployed the mobile hospital so that they could see how it is done. Then, we will pack it together with them so that they can do it by themselves and perform all the functions autonomously wherever they are needed," says Bart.
The mobile hospital is all-season and has the necessary equipment and medications. The tent includes the place where first aid is provided and surgeries are performed, and it also accommodates an inpatient facility.
"We’ve seen such modules on TV. They can be used at certain stages of evacuation. Patients may arrive at various rates, from a few people per hour to several dozen per hour. This is a basic module, which can be supplemented with other tents, such as an infirmary or sorting area," says Oleksandr Solobchuk, head of the health service of the "Steel Border" brigade.
In addition to the mobile tent-based hospital, volunteers brought three trucks. Three of them are evacuation vehicles, and the fourth one has been equipped to serve as a dental office.
"Dental care is needed at the frontline. Therapeutic and surgical care includes teeth cleaning, treatment of dental diseases and diseases of the oral mucosa, tooth extraction, as well as laboratory and surgical interventions," says Oleksandr Kuznetsov, head of the dental department of the State Border Service hospital.
For two days, Ukrainian border guards learned to deploy the hospital and work with the equipment.
According to Anatolii Kovalenko, head of the brigade’s medical supply department, it will take about two hours near the frontline. However, there is a shortage of surgeons, anesthesiologists, and operating room nurses to work in mobile hospitals.
"Tents will be located not far from the frontline. It is not an easy task in a modern war to place such tents. The places will be chosen carefully in order to protect the medical staff as much as possible," says Anatolii Kovalenko.
Bart Kroesen says this is not the first time they are coming with aid. They have already handed over nine such hospitals to the Ukrainian military, and they plan to hand over twelve more.
"We’ve realized that the war is very close to us; it's either a two-day drive or a two-hour flight," says Bart Kroesen.