Baltic medical team returns from war trauma training in Ukraine

A medical team from all three Baltic countries returned to Vilnius on Sunday after completing a two-week training placement in Ukraine, LRT reported. The team included traumatologists and nurses.

They trained with Ukrainian medical workers operating in real wartime conditions, learning how to respond to mass casualties and war injuries, organise patient evacuations and maintain hospital operations under constant threat.

The joint placement was the first of its kind involving medical workers from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Marija Jakubauskienė, an adviser to the prime minister on health issues, said the training demonstrated the three countries’ unwavering support for Ukraine.

“You are bringing experience back to your professional communities and your countries’ health systems, making them better prepared to defend themselves, protect people and strengthen the resilience of our countries,” she said while welcoming the medics.

Health Minister Linas Kukuraitis said he had welcomed the team with emotion and thanked its members on behalf of the state for contributing personally to the country’s preparedness.

“I know what your donated time means to us, to our entire healthcare system, and how much it means to humanity in general,” he said.

Nine medics took part in the placement: five from Lithuania, two traumatologists from Latvia and two nurses from Estonia, coordinator Vaiva Jankienė said.

Jankienė said the training programme had already involved more than 100 Lithuanian medics with experience in Ukraine. The latest placement was the 15th, and another group is expected to travel to Ukraine in September or October.

The programme began about a year and a half ago. Some participants have travelled more than once. Traumatologist Professor Alfredas Smailys took part for the third time because he needs additional knowledge and information to work alongside military medics closer to the front, Jankienė said.

She identified Dnipro as one of the cities visited but did not disclose the other locations. Further placements will continue, with teams expected to return to the same places or visit new ones.