Photo By Sgt. Anthony Jones | Col. Brian Coleman, brigade surgeon for the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (right)...... read more read more Photo By Sgt. Anthony Jones | Col. Brian Coleman, brigade surgeon for the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (right) Col. (Dr.) Anne Naclerio, deputy surgeon, U.S. Army Europe (second from right) and Col. Sara Breckenridge-Sproat of Regional Health Command Europe, (center) listen to a Ukrainian ministry of defense doctor during a tour of a military hospital in L'viv, Ukraine on Jan. 20. (Photo by Sgt. Anthony Jones, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team see less | View Image Page

Medical personnel and military leaders from Ukraine, U.S. Army Europe, and Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine met last week at the Military Medical-Clinical Center of the Western Region in L’viv, Ukraine to assess the needs of the hospital.



“We depend on the healthcare support of this facility,” said Col. Anne Naclerio, deputy surgeon for USAREUR. She continued, saying U.S. Soldiers supporting the JMTG-U mission at the International Peacekeeping and Security Center, near Yavoriv, Ukraine have, unfortunately, been injured in the past, but have successfully recovered thanks to the efforts of the doctors and nurses at the MMCCWR.



Under the supervision of the U.S, Canadian, British, Lithuanian, and Polish staff of JMTG-U, five Ukrainian army battalions have rotated through training at the IPSC.



Col. David Jordan, commander of the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Oklahoma Army National Guard, plans to train four more this year during his tenure as JMTG-U commander.



The MMCCWR is the facility of choice for Ukrainian soldiers who are recovering from spinal or neural injuries, said Col. Ivan Mykhaylovych Haida, director of the MMCCWR.



“We train military doctors here and in the field hospitals,” said Mykhaylovych Haida, “but tactical medical training [for the individual soldiers] is not our responsibility.”



That’s where the training at the IPSC comes into play.



At the IPSC, Ukrainian soldiers learn not only tactical maneuvers, but are also taught tactical medical skills.



The training is apparently working.



During her visit, Naclerio encountered a wounded Ukrainian soldier. The young soldier, now paraplegic, was recovering from a bullet lodged in his spine.



He shared that he had completed training at the IPSC from U.S. medics, in the fall of 2016, prior to his deployment. He recognized Cpt. Andrey Sidorenko, a medical provider for JMTG-U, who was with Naclerio during her visit, as the lead instructor who taught his unit during combat lifesaver training.



My comrades did not panic after I was wounded, he said, but instead tactically maneuvered their vehicle around me to shield me from fire, while they administered lifesaving combat first aid.



The soldier expressed satisfaction with the care he had received from point of injury to treatment at the hospital and described being treated with his Individual First Aid Kit at the point of injury. He is convinced, he said, that the tactical medical knowledge his unit received saved his life.



“This shows that we’re having a positive impact on the ground,” said Naclerio. “His story, the fact that he survived, just confirms that what we’re doing is really important.”



Naclerio presented the soldier with a coin, and thanked him for his feedback.



“It has definitely helped,” said Mykhaylovych Haida. “The training has changed the attitude of every soldier because now they have the tools to save their own lives or the lives of their friends.”



The tools he refers to are both physical and theoretical.



Under the United Security Assistance Initiative, the U.S. Army has provided thousands of tourniquets to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and has provided litter kits and full IFAKs which include tourniquets, combat gauze, Israeli bandages, and chest decompression needles, among other medical items.



The Army has provided training on these items through the JMTG-U.



“We had some similar items in our kit before: pills for water purification, pain medication, gauze, and the like, but not the new tourniquets,” said Mykhaylovych Haida. “The situation has changed, every soldier, every officer, even generals have their own personal IFAK now and they know how to use it.”



Naclerio discussed with Mykhaylovych Haida their efforts to improve long-term rehabilitation and the possibility of further equipping the hospital with simulated medical trauma trainers.



Although the MMCCWR is primarily known for its spinal and neural rehabilitation capabilities, nearly every doctor at the hospital has served in the east of the country, treating soldiers who have been traumatically injured fighting in the anti-terrorism operations there.



The simulated trauma trainers may help those doctors stay proficient in trauma training.



“The experience our doctors gain in the anti-terrorism operation is very important,” said Mykhaylovych Haida. “We’d like to maintain that training.”



Naclerio, along with other medical providers and military leaders of USAREUR and JMTG-U, concluded their meeting with the hospital’s leadership by touring the facility.



“We generally work through the central military hospital and the surgeon general in Kiev,” said Naclerio, “but I still like to come out to each hospital to get to personally talk with you and hear directly what your needs are.”



Naclerio first began working with Ukraine in 2014, and said she has seen a lot of progress since then, especially when it comes to improvements in their combat critical care.



“We hope,” said Mykhaylovych Haida, “that with your help, we can change even more with respect to medicine in Ukraine.”