Ambulances operated by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Ukraine have transported more than 8,000 patients from hospitals near the frontline between January and July 2024, more than half with burn, blast, and other injuries directly caused by the fighting. This represents a 30 percent increase from the previous six months and shows the alarming and ongoing human impact of the war, warns the medical humanitarian organization.
MSF’s 17 ambulances transport patients at the request of health facilities across areas near the frontlines in the east, south and northeast of the country to hospitals that are less overwhelmed or better equipped to treat their injuries. More than 15 percent of patients transported so far this year were so ill that they needed to be referred in specially equipped intensive care unit (ICU) ambulances. Of those requiring ICU transportation, 38 were children, the youngest just three years old.
“We need ICU ambulances to transport patients with severe injuries and breathing problems, such as head traumas, burns, multiple fractures, and damage to internal organs. They need equipment like ventilators and oxygen,” said MSF deputy medical coordinator Maksym Zharikov. “Sixty percent of the patients we transport have war-related injuries such as head injuries, trunk and limb injuries, soft tissue injuries, and massive hemorrhages.”
