Humanitarian aidRussia Caucasus Ukraine

Medevac Mission for the Polish and Czech Casas in Kiev (Maj)

The Casa C 295 in medical evacuation (Credit: Polish Ministry of Defence)
The Casa C 295 in medical evacuation (Credit: Polish Ministry of Defence)

(BRUSSELS2) A Polish air force military plane carried out a new medical evacuation overnight from Monday to Tuesday. The Casa C-295 of the 8th air transport unit which took off from its base in Krakow at 17 p.m. landed at Kiev airport to take care of a dozen seriously injured during the last clashes on February 30 and 20 in Maidan Square. Direction: Wroclaw where it landed overnight, the wounded being cared for by doctors and nurses from the military hospital. This was the second evacuation mission for the Polish military. But not the only arrival of wounded Ukrainians in Poland. « The army remains on stand-by to carry out other medical evacuation missions if necessary “says a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense.

Humanitarian ... and political aid

In all, at least fifty wounded were treated in hospitals in Warsaw and Krakow, and some arrived on their own in towns closer to the Ukrainian border such as Lublin, Leczna, Tomaszow, Zamosc, Przemysl. The reception of wounded Ukrainians is part of the panoply of assistance decided by Polish diplomacy, which spares no effort to come to the aid of Ukrainian opponents. It makes it possible to relieve a little the hospitals of Kiev, overwhelmed by the wounded, to give specific care to victims affected in sensitive places (eyes, head, etc.) but also to protect these opponents from possible prosecution. who, while the situation was still very tense, could risk their lives to be treated in an official hospital.

Ready in case...

The Minister of the Interior thus declared himself, a few days ago, ready to receive 350 wounded. « Humanitarian aid is coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which through its diplomats in Kyiv (us) sends people in need of medical care » explained the day after the events in Kiev, Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz. “They are met at Warsaw airport and transported to hospital. If they show up at the border, they are transported to the nearest hospitals”. 2800 police officers had thus been put on alert to be able to reinforce the border guards and deal with a possible arrival of refugees.

(Update) Czech planes take over

Two Czech military planes, a CASA C295 and an Airbus A-319 from the 24th air transport base, with a team of military doctors and paramedics on board, repatriated 24 injured people to Prague on Thursday (27 February). The injured are seriously injured - as explained by Lt Col Michal Mareček, Chief of the Air Medical Services of Plzen-Linie, one of the most experienced doctors in the army (according to the Czech Ministry of Defence). They suffer " multiple gunshot wounds to the head, chest, lungs, severe burns and broken bones ". On board the CASA aircraft, a PTU unit (Patient Transport Unit) has been installed, with an intensive care unit and 12 beds. The Airbus was equipped with 2 modified PTU units for the most seriously injured patients and two other special beds.

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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