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Dr. Dmytro Besh works in a hospital in Lviv. We have been in contact with him since February 26 and we collect information about the medical care situation, what is happening on the streets of Lviv, as well as about the public mood. Each day brings some changes. The doctor constantly emphasizes how much support Ukraine can count on from Poland.
- On February 24, Our Country launched a brutal invasion of Ukraine. The fighting is ongoing, every day we receive reports of bomb attacks and victims of the attack
- In a situation of war, a lot depends on doctors – their help, but also their attitude. And this, Dr. Besh says, is really good. Ukraine is struggling with the full support of medics. Not only those on the spot, but also doctors who live in Poland
- I am sure that together with our great friends from Poland, the European Union and the USA, as well as all free countries, we will win. Meanwhile, we work in medical care and we also try to help outside the hospital – says Dr. Bash in an interview with Medonet
- Our Country’s invasion of Ukraine [LIVE REPORT]
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
People who have recently visited Ukraine have been impressed by the progress that is being made in that country. It also concerned medicine, which was quickly catching up. Doctors trained themselves to be powerful, and more and more modern equipment was supplied to medical facilities. Of course, it is difficult to fully prepare for a humanitarian crisis such as war, but the medical staff is extremely determined, and from the western border there are trucks filled with gifts for hospitals. Therefore, a cardiologist from the Lviv Regional Clinical Hospital and an academic teacher of the Lviv National Medical University, Dr. Dmytro Besh, does not panic, heals the sick and waits for the development of events.
The rest of the text is below the video.
The beginning of the war found dr. Besha in Kiev
This is the first time we are talking to dr. Dmytro Beshem on Saturday, February 26. The doctor begins with encouraging words: “The atmosphere among doctors is confident, we believe in ourselves and our abilities. We have considerable experience in treating patients after various types of injuries and military traumas ».
The doctor has just returned from a convention in Kiev. There he was found by the attack. In comparison to the capital city, Lviv is relatively calm, no one is fighting here yet. So far, no transports with the wounded from eastern Ukraine have been sent to the city.
– When I was in the capital two days ago, powerful attacks began – reports the doctor. – Explosions were heard in various parts of the city. However, I was able to get back by train. I was glad because I didn’t even have difficulties with getting a ticket, even though the station was already crowded. Many people went to their homes throughout the country, some to Lviv, others to Odessa, and still others to Zaporizhia. They wanted to get back together and assess the situation on the spot. And my fellow doctors who took part in the convention were already rushing to work, to help in their cities.
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The farther the train moved away from the war zone, the more relaxed the journey. There was a certain tension in Lviv on the spot, although it was also evident that the residents were extremely motivated and united. Though sirens sounded, there was no shelling or bombing.
“So far, there is no shortage of food, medicine, and electricity,” Dr. Besh said Saturday night. – There is clearly a lack of fuel, especially diesel, because all the supplies go to the army. There is also less gasoline, but the car is still refueled.
At that time, Lviv was already prepared for the influx of refugees from eastern Ukraine. Beds were created for them, and a lot of inhabitants expressed their willingness to accept their compatriots under their roof.
– There is no panic at all, people volunteer to help our army in the east – reported the doctor. – Many retired military people want to return to service.
Since the outbreak of the war, all Ukrainian hospitals have been operating on the basis of changed rules. They operate on an “urgency regime”, says Dr. Besh, which means that only emergencies are accepted. At the doctor’s office, all planned operations were suspended until further notice. Empty rooms are waiting to receive the wounded.
When asked about the needs of the hospital, the doctor replies: “It is hard to say yet, it will turn out when the wounded start to flow to us. But I know that in the East there are already shortages of drugs, such as antibiotics and antiseptics. Virtually everything that heals war injuries ».
It looks like you will run out of drugs faster than blood. The blood banks in Lviv were full at the weekend.
– Really lots of people donated blood wherever it was possible. Now even plus-group blood is not being drawn, because there is no shortage of it, Dr. Besh reported. – Blood stations accept only Rh negative blood.
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While the crowd of women with children headed for Poland, men, but also a large crowd of women, worked as usual.
– To help defend Ukraine from this “murder” that goes against us – said the doctor. – Men join the Territorial Defense Forces. Long lines form in front of the recruiting points and those willing to serve must stand for several hours. People understand what they can lose if Our Country comes here. That is why we are preparing to defend the country, to rescue it from the Moscow hunt of murderers who are going here. We will do everything for this, and there are really not many men who would like to flee Ukraine, and in my opinion that is very, very good.
At the end of our conversation, Dr. Dmytro Besh makes an appeal: “I am sure that we will be able to win, that it will be the greatest victory, and I sincerely believe that all normal countries will help us in this. They will give support. And now, during the war and later, in the reconstruction of Ukraine and Ukrainian medicine. I hope that during this time, all of Europe and Poland will continue to support and help us both militarily and humanely. I am sure that together with our great friends from Poland, the European Union and the USA, as well as all free countries, we will win. Meanwhile, we work in medical care and we also try to help outside the hospital ».
Monday in Lviv is less calm
Sirens have been wailing in Lviv almost every day since last Saturday. These are anti-aircraft alarms. People are afraid, fortunately neither Lviv nor its surroundings have been bombed.
“We are actively working,” Dr. Besh summed up the beginning of the week. – We organize humanitarian missions, send aid to the front, especially to Kiev. In recent days, many of our colleagues working in various hospitals in Poland have contacted us. They asked what we needed and organized medical help immediately. It is especially about equipment, because we are stocked with most of the drugs. We have logistic contact with Kiev and friends from Poland organize the transport of necessary things for us, not only for the treatment of the wounded.
Although there is a war in Ukraine, people still have heart attacks and strokes and need effective therapy. They have to be provided with drugs, and these come from the West.
The first wounded were brought to the Lviv Regional Clinical Hospital on Monday.
“So far, it’s a few people,” says Dr. Besh. – They were victims of the provocation. Fortunately, there are very few situations of this type. All in all, I cannot say that we mainly treat patients after military injuries.
Unfortunately, along with the wounded, shortages of dressings and surgical materials began to appear. Stocks of kits for the treatment of strokes and heart attacks are also shrinking. The hospital does not receive any domestic deliveries.
– Traditionally, the end of February and the beginning of March were the time when our ordered deliveries came – says the doctor. – In the current situation, they are not. So we sent our request to fellow doctors abroad, and they undertook to organize everything. We are counting on a humanitarian convoy to deliver the necessary items.
The first gifts began to arrive on Monday. They are further redistributed in the hospital in Lviv.
– We respond to the demand from Kiev and send some gifts there – says Dr. Besh. – They will be the most useful there, especially the means of treating the wounded, of which there are a lot of them.
In early March, hostilities are still far from Lviv.
– Probably in a short time transports of the wounded will start arriving at my hospital – the doctor predicts. – The hospital where I work is the largest facility of this type in western Ukraine. We have great treatment options for people after various injuries and contusions. The amount of work has already increased significantly, because many sick people come from all over Ukraine. There are especially many small patients with congenital anomalies, as the largest specialist hospitals for children operated in peacetime in Kiev and it was there that children from all over the country were treated. It is impossible now, and we can still be reached.
Poles buy Lugol’s fluid. The endocrinologist writes about the risks of eating
Lviv as a center for receiving and redistributing aid for Ukraine
There are temporary problems with the internet on Wednesday. We catch Dr. Besh during his shift.
– It’s not so quiet anymore – begins his relationship. – During the day, the air raid alarm sounded twice and we had to go down to the shelter. Fortunately, my city was not attacked, there was no bombing. Today I spend the whole day in the hospital, I’m on call. We still accept urgent cases. So far, no injured or patients have been brought from eastern or central Ukraine.
Medical aid from Western countries flows to the Lviv Regional Clinical Hospital. On Wednesday, the greatest number of gifts came from Poland. The facility stores and distributes them. The aid is repacked from lorries to smaller vehicles which are transported to the east. Most of them go to hospitals in Kiev and eastern Ukraine. There are no bandages, anesthetics or anti-bleeding agents.
“The society here in Lviv is determined,” remarks Dr. Besh. – Everyone who had served, had experience or had military training was mobilized into the army. Although they are given appointments, most volunteer early. Usually they are directed to organize defense on the spot or go to fight in defense of Kiev and other cities in the east.
People living in areas where fighting is taking place still come to Lviv. Everyone finds accommodation for themselves. There are now many children in the city who have found shelter and accommodation in schools, churches and churches. The inhabitants of Lviv took care of them, feed them, provide them with clothes and basic personal hygiene products, such as toothpaste or soap. Many volunteers volunteer to help with logistics and distribution, not only of medical goods, but also of all humanitarian aid.
An expert on the heroic struggle of Ukraine. “This should not surprise us”. Explains why
Polish doctor about hospitals in Ukraine
Krzysztof Pujdak, MD, a cardiologist from the Herford Clinic, who has repeatedly visited medical facilities at our eastern neighbors, claims that doctors there are very ambitious and learn quickly, and the Ukrainian market is becoming more and more attractive to Western companies producing equipment medical.
– My meetings with Ukrainian medicine were quite frequent – says Dr. Pujdak. – I visited various centers teaching my colleagues how to perform interventional heart procedures. I have been to Lviv, Odessa, Kiev or Kovel many times. There were plans for other places, but the war had ruined them for the time being.
The doctor went to Ukraine for the first time two years ago.
“There has been a lot of progress over these two years,” he says. – Cardiology has moved up from the level at which Poland was 20 years ago. Large investments have been made, doctors now work with modern equipment, perform advanced procedures that were not possible at all a few years ago due to costs and lack of know-how. Establishing contacts with doctors from Western Europe and the USA certainly helped.
Dr. Pujdak claims that, paradoxically, now the Ukrainian health care system may benefit from the legacy of the previous system.
– In each country, the so-called of people’s democracy, health care was organized in such a way as to be in constant readiness in the event of a war outbreak, he notes. – There were many beds in hospitals, including many trauma beds.
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