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War in Ukraine: First aid on the front line
A France Télévisions team witnessed the nightly ballet of seriously wounded Ukrainian soldiers near Pokrovsk, a few kilometers from the front. They sometimes take several days to transit through this “stabilization point” before being evacuated to hospitals.
(War in Ukraine: in makeshift hospitals on the front line, gaping wounds and life-threatening emergencies follow one another)
A France Télévisions team witnessed the nightly ballet of seriously wounded Ukrainian soldiers near Pokrovsk, a few kilometers from the front. They sometimes take several days to transit through this “stabilization point” before being evacuated to hospitals.
It is a secret location, a few kilometers from the front line, a so-called “stabilization” point. Wounded soldiers are brought there at nightfall to avoid danger. Five soldiers, some in serious condition, are immediately taken care of. They have been attacked by Russian drones. A first soldier is brought into the treatment room. Every minute counts, the bleeding must be stopped and the pain relieved. “We’re giving him some sedatives, it should take effect within a few minutes.”explains Alexander, a nurse.
On this part of the front line in eastern Ukraine, the situation has deteriorated in recent weeks and could become critical. “We really don’t know what’s going to happen. It all depends on what the enemy is going to do (…) Here, a doctor is happy when he’s not working.”
Outside, a wounded man waiting his turn has just lost consciousness. The condition of the first soldiers taken care of is stabilizing, when the chief doctor receives the call of an evacuation team, another seriously wounded man is on his way.