DNIPRO – Most soldiers arrive at Mechnikov Hospital unconscious, the main entrance for wounded soldiers fighting in Donbas.
The massive Soviet-era hospital is located in Dnipro, which has a population of 1,000,000 people and is 185 km west of the frontline. It works around the clock, saving as many lives as it can.
The hospital, which is known for treating the most complex injuries, is home to some the country’s most experienced nurses and doctors. Many have been working since the beginning of the war, in 2014.
Sergii Ryzhenko said that during the first eight years, from 2014 to 2020, the Mechnikov Hospital treated over 3,000 injured soldiers, with only one to five soldiers arriving every day. The demand for Mechnikov Hospital’s doctors has increased since the full-scale invasion began.
Dr. Ryzhenko said that since the start of the war, around 29,000 wounded soldiers were brought to the hospital. He still performs some operations himself. Doctors say that around 50 wounded soldiers arrive at the hospital each day.
Many soldiers arrive with ventilation masks on, unable breathe on their own. Approximately 82% of soldiers arrive unconscious.
Only those who are lucky enough to survive the intense fighting and be rescued in time make it to the hospital. The wounded are transported from the battlefield for hours, and sometimes even days.
The hospital is worried that it will run out of neurosurgeons to keep up with this intense pace.
The 60-year-old veteran physician said, “We are always afraid of not having enough people to help save the wounded when we form teams.”
The days are long. Ryzhenko said that doctors work up to 18 hours per day and that getting five hours of sleep a night is a luxury.
He added that not everyone could cope with the physical, psychological and social demands of the job. The challenge of staffing the hospital is huge.
Ukraine’s doctors are battling burnout and exhaustion, just like soldiers, as they prepare for what is expected to a difficult summer.
Mechnikov Hospital is in need of more surgeons as the battlefield situation continues to worsen due to a lack of resources, from manpower and ammunition to equipment and supplies. Ryzhenko says that the hospital has over 200 surgeons and anesthesiologists, but they could use about 40 more.
There are some injuries that doctors cannot help. Ryzhenko says that brain and skull injuries are the most dangerous and deadly.
According to its own statistics, the 200-year-old regional hospitals has so far managed to keep 95 percent of the injured alive.
Ryzhenko has been the chief of the hospital for more than a decade.
Doctors are needed
The doctors at Mechnikov Hospital are familiar with all kinds of injuries, from shrapnel-induced brain damage to soldiers who have lost limbs.
Ryzhenko explained that it was more difficult to adjust when Russia invaded Donbas in 2014.
The doctor said that it is more difficult to breathe if you don’t get enough fresh air. On the busiest of days, doctors won’t leave their offices for days. Ryzhenko says he goes outside to breath when he’s exhausted.
“We’re used to this hard work,” he said.
Doctors say that the extreme work schedule must be followed to save as many injured as possible.
Dr. David Staryk is a neurosurgeon who is 28 years old. He says that doctors in his field are hard to find, because there aren’t too many of them in the country. He said that there are currently about 10-15 jobs available at Mechnikov Hospital but at least four are needed.
Staryk said, “We are trying and for the moment we are okay.” “But it can be difficult to do two or more operations in a row.”
He explained that a neurosurgery procedure can take between three and seven hours.
Staryk believes that surgeons who are overworked can be as emotionally detached and numb as soldiers on the front lines, who often adopt defense mechanisms that help them stop reacting in traumatic situations.
Staryk said, “We’re already burned out from emotions and we lack empathy.” “Maybe you’re just being professional, and you just take the patient and do your job.”
Long road to treatment
The faster Mechnikov can work, the better it is for the wounded in the makeshift hospitals near front lines.
The injured are transferred first to the stabilization points where they receive initial medical care, most importantly to stop bleeding. Ryzhenko said that such facilities lacked good lighting and certain equipment needed to determine injuries.
“They can’t even see everything,” he explained, explaining that hospitals will take care of the rest to ensure all injuries have been spotted.
It is difficult to detect all injuries if the patient has adrenaline or is unconscious.
Military medics at stabilization points told the Kyiv Independent there was a shortage of experienced surgeons and general doctors on the front lines.
The Ukrainian army‘s Medical Forces did not acknowledge the shortage of surgeons in a recent commentary, but said that Ukraine was conducting training and “developing regulatory framework” in order to fill the stages in medical evacuation according to the needs and abilities of the doctors available at the military.
If the soldier reaches a stabilization area and the injuries are correctly identified, then the chances of survival increase. The majority of fatalities are recorded before the injured have reached the stabilization point.
Oleksandr Tulubaiev said that “internal strengths” are also important. Many patients have defied the odds and survived in situations that would be fatal on paper.
Endless nights
The Mechnikov Hospital is busiest at night. Doctors and nurses are on standby to treat the wounded soldiers as they arrive.
The city is pitch black. The hospital hallways give off a similar atmosphere, with the squeaky sounds of stretchers carrying patients to the operating rooms occasionally breaking the silence.
Mykola Lehach was among the wounded soldiers who waited to be taken to a bed following treatment. He had just been evacuated to the east.
Lehach recalled what happened. Russian troops had first targeted his position using artillery and tanks and captured it the next morning. Six of the eight men were killed in the action. Two, including Lehach, were briefly held as POWs until a Ukrainian mortar attack freed them.
“We were wounded, but we managed run away,” said a 48-year old infantryman from Kyiv Oblast deployed with the 66th Separate Mechanized Brigade to the Lyman area.
Lehach seems calm despite what he has been through. He said that he had expected the worst while lying on a stretcher.
Lehach, a wounded soldier who just lost comrades, is brought to Mechnikov Hospital every day. The doctors must make him feel safe.
Tolubaiev said that the hospital’s deputy-director, Tolubaiev stated, “We defend our frontline in this emergency department.”
Editor’s note: The hospital has allowed the Kyiv Independent the freedom to publish the information in the story and has assured that the information will not endanger patients or staff.
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Note from the Author:
Hello, I am Asami Terajima the author of this post.
We thank you for reading our article. During my reporting in Donbas I heard a great deal about Mechnikov Hospital. But it was only when I spoke to the doctors did I understand why soldiers called them heroes. They are exhausted, working without end in sight but too humble to acknowledge their extraordinary work during their country’s darkest hours.
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Asami Terajima works as a reporter for the Kyiv Independent. She was a business journalist for the Kyiv Post, focusing on international energy, infrastructure and investment, as well as trade. Terajima, originally from Japan, moved to Ukraine as a child and earned a bachelor’s in Business Administration. She was awarded the George Weidenfeld Prize and the Thomson Reuters Foundation Kurt Schork International Journalism Award 2023 in the Local Reporter category. She was also included in the Media Development Foundation’s “25 under 25: young and bold” 2023 list for emerging media makers in Ukraine. Read more
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