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East Hospital’s medical staff notes changes in the psycho-emotional state of injured Ukrainian soldiers
Today, on 19 December 2024, the Riga East Clinical University Hospital (East Hospital) once again, for the 21st time to be specific, joins forces with the charity project M-Help.com – this day marks the 21st arrival of severely injured Ukrainian soldiers in the war started by Russia. According to the East Hospital’s medical staff that has been attending to injured Ukrainians for more than two years now, the profile of a Ukrainian soldier has changed, with the most significant shifts related to their psycho-emotional state. The medical staff also points out that one cannot and must not grow accustomed to war.
Overall, the East Hospital that has been providing aid to injured Ukrainian residents for more than two years now, has admitted 416 patients brought from Ukraine since the outbreak of the war. 29 war victims have made the long journey to Latvia’s largest hospital this time, where they were welcomed by the Medical Director of the East Hospital, Juris Nikolajenko, along with hospital representatives and Ukraine’s authorized ambassador to the Republic of Latvia, Anatolii Kutsevol. As usual, patients were admitted to the East Hospital by a multi-disciplinary medical team comprised by various specialists and nursing staff from the Emergency Medicine and Patient Admission Clinic (EMPAC).
Since the day the East Hospital welcomed the first bus with Ukrainian soldiers on 8 August 2022, the head of EMPAC, Aleksejs Višņakovs, has been actively involved in admitting the injured. “From the very first day, we were convinced that providing medical support to those injured in the war is something we can and want to do. Yet none of us knew back then that this unrelenting war would drag on for so long, nor that by 2024, the last Thursday of every month would turn into the ‘Day of Ukraine’ in our clinic. Living in peace, we have grown accustomed to the war unfolding so nearby, and it seems we perceive it very differently now than we did almost three years ago. However, when I see people who have been through hell and back defending their country and were lucky enough to survive, I have come to realize that one cannot and must not get used to war. Not only soldiers, but also women and children who have been tormented, tortured, and arrive to us with physical and psychological trauma, come here with hopes of recovery. In their eyes, you can see profound suffering, hatred towards the enemy, and also hope for victory. Our support is incredibly important to them, which is why we do this work with pride and honour. And every time we welcome another bus from Ukraine, we hope that peace will soon prevail,” says Aleksejs Višņakovs.
“The profile of a Ukrainian soldier has changed, with the most significant shifts related to their psycho-emotional state”, shares the head of the East Hospital’s Trauma and Orthopaedics Clinic, Andris Vikmanis, who, like his colleague, has been attending to the injured since the very first day in 2022. “Initially, the soldiers were optimistic, actively discussing various socially relevant topics, including the war. But now, they are quiet, with great respect for the hospital’s physicians and staff, their demeanour heavy and downcast. They hardly speak about the war or what they experienced there. In conversation with the attending physician, they briefly mention how the injury was sustained and which weapon caused it. They have grown accustomed to, and learned to live with, physical pain, and they are deeply grateful to Latvian physicians for performing surgeries and providing care,” says Andris Vikmanis.
Describing the sustained injuries, required surgeries, and the psycho-emotional state of the injured, Andris Vikmanis explains: “War injuries are characterized by high-energy trauma and severe, brutal disfigurements to the human body. These are large and extensive soft bone tissue defects and infections, for which it is difficult to find effective antibiotics due to resistance. War victims undergo treatment in multiple consecutive stages, where surgery is followed by rehabilitation and, later on, repeated surgeries. Soldiers must undergo long-term treatment in order to alleviate the consequences of their injuries and disfigurements. This requires willpower and resilience, but more than physical injuries, it is the psycho-emotional state that suffers the most.”
At the same time, the process of treating Ukrainian residents has presented new models of collaboration and allowed to deepen the understanding between the physicians and other specialists at the East Hospital. “The daily work of our medical staff in treating war injuries has brought invaluable experience in teamwork and skill enhancement. Treating war-injured patients is always a collective effort, involving physicians from many different specialties, such as traumatologists, surgeons, microsurgeons, infectious disease specialists, physical and rehabilitation medicine physicians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, radiologists, and laboratory specialists. Coordinated collaboration is crucial, and we ensure that it is in place,” says Andris Vikmanis, pointing out that “seeing how the Ukrainians support each other and remain united in their vision for the future, we are inspired to help even more”.
All patients arriving from Ukraine to the East Hospital undergo a thorough health evaluation, including various laboratory tests. A minimum of 10 different samples are collected from each patient, and these samples are analysed in the East Hospital’s Laboratory Service for at least 27 different parameters, including the possible presence of multidrug-resistant infections, known to rapidly emerge and spread under wartime conditions. Several injured patients underwent additional radiological examinations by specialists in the Emergency Radiology Department to determine the specifics of their injuries.
This time, three soldiers who have sustained very severe war injuries will receive treatment in the specialized clinics of the East Hospital, all within the microsurgery specialty, under the leadership of microsurgeons Mārtiņš Kapickis and Jānis Zariņš. The patients will undergo a series of complex and consecutive surgical procedures in multiple stages. Following these intricate and severe operations for war-related injuries, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, rehabilitation specialists, and functional experts will work with the injured soldiers.
Meanwhile, other patients will go to other healthcare facilities in Latvia, depending on the nature of their injuries, after being examined at the EMPAC. One patient is expected to continue his treatment at the Trauma and Orthopaedics Hospital, ten patients will be transferred to the Vaivari National Rehabilitation Centre, nine patients – to the Jaunķemeri Rehabilitation Centre, while six patients will be transported for long-term rehabilitation to the Līgatne Rehabilitation Centre.
It is the private initiative by the founders of the charity project M-Help.com, Arvis Rekets and Mārtiņš Medinieks that made it possible to transport the patients affected by the war in Ukraine to the East Hospital. Meanwhile, the Georgy Logvinsky Charity Foundation in Ukraine has equipped and renovated a bus used for the transportation of these patients.
Photos documenting the arrival of injured Ukrainian soldiers at the East Hospital are available here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/austrumu_slimnicas_foto/albums/72177720322664852
About the East Hospital
Riga East Clinical University Hospital is the largest and strategically significant multi-profile hospital in the country. The hospital consists of five inpatient facilities – Gaiļezers, Latvian Oncology Centre, Biķernieki, Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Centre, and Latvian Infectious Diseases Centre, along with various specialised centres and clinics. The hospital provides highly specialised inpatient and secondary outpatient healthcare, offering multidisciplinary tertiary-level treatment and care in line with modern technology and medical knowledge. Approximately 80% of all cancer patients in Latvia are treated at the hospital. It serves as a practical training base for both Latvian educational institutions and foreign students, providing further education and knowledge transfer to healthcare specialists within and beyond the country. The hospital engages in scientific research and develops innovative methods for patient treatment. As the third-largest employer in the country, the hospital employs around 5000 staff members.
