Workshop “Aspects of Blood Transfusion in the Emergency Health Care System” Was Held at TNMU

On January 20, 2023, the workshop “Aspects of blood transfusion in the emergency health care system” was held at the Simulation Training Centre of Ternopil National Medical University with the participation of an experienced emergency medicine doctor, a member of the American Association of Physicians, Brian R. McMurray.

This workshop provided new knowledge and skills to the participants of the course for instructors of educational and training departments of emergency medical care and disaster medicine centres. We would like to remind that the course for instructors is organized by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine with the support of the World Bank as part of a large-scale educational project in the emergency medical care. Today, on the basis of the Simulation Training Centre, the third group of twenty trainees from various regions, in particular Transcarpathia, Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Odesa, is undergoing simulation training as part of the above-mentioned course.

Representatives of the Ternopil Emergency Medical Care Centre also took part in the workshop.

First, Brian MacMurray met with TNMU Rector, Professor Mykhaylo Korda and assured that he would continue to support Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in the fight against Russian aggression and in the further reconstruction of the country after the victory. Professor M. Korda thanked Mr. B. MacMurray and the entire American society for the strong and constant support that the USA has provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

At the beginning of the workshop, Brian McMurray told the attendees about the peculiarities of whole blood transfusion in field conditions. His report was about what equipment and consumables are needed for this and how to do a blood transfusion correctly.

During the practical part of the workshop, the attendees had the opportunity to master their skills and receive valuable advice from Brian McMurray. Simultaneous translation was provided by Ivan Kuzminskyi.

“Brian McMurray had extensive experience in providing medical care to the wounded, so his knowledge and experience are useful and important to us. He is a specialist in a fairly broad field. Especially for Ukrainian doctors, he prepared a one-day course dedicated to the transfusion of blood and blood substitutes at the early pre-hospital stage, during the transportation of the wounded to the hospital and directly in the hospital. Today, specialists of emergency medical care teams must be able to provide assistance in case of mass casualties in the combat zone, in liberated territories and in case of missile attack on peaceful territories. Disaster medicine is constantly developing – and in recent years, approaches to providing care in field conditions have changed. Brian McMurray told the participants of the workshop with all the innovations in detail,” the Head of the Department of Emergency and Simulation Medicine, Professor Arsen Hudyma said.

Halyna Tsymbaliuk and Ivan Kuzminsky spoke about the medical care standards for the victims of haemorrhagic shock at the pre-hospital and hospital stages of trauma. At the end of the workshop, the experts answered the participants’ questions.

TNMU Press Secretary, Yanina Chaikivska.

Photographs by Mykola Vasylechko.