Recently, the Ukrainian Red Cross, in cooperation with Magen David Adom (Israel’s National EMS and Blood Services Organization) and the Italian Red Cross, organised a six-day international training course in Kyiv

The event aimed to equip specialists with the skills to provide effective assistance to victims in mass casualty emergencies. Commanders and volunteers of emergency response teams from the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, Kyiv, and Dnipro regions, which regularly face such situations, participated in the training.

One day of the training was also attended by Michael Brodsky, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Israel to Ukraine; Illya Kletskovskyy, Deputy Director General of the Ukrainian Red Cross; and Francesco Fornari, Representative of the Italian Red Cross in Ukraine. In their speeches, they emphasised the continuous development and training of volunteers, as well as the importance of international cooperation and support for Ukraine.

The training programme included both theoretical lessons on response management and practical exercises on procedures for providing assistance. It concluded with a large-scale emergency simulation, where participants practised their skills in realistic scenarios. Each participant had the opportunity to take on the roles of both a first responder and a victim, allowing them to identify mistakes and refine their skills in providing assistance in high-pressure situations.

This training represents another important step in enhancing the professionalism of the Ukrainian Red Cross emergency response teams, who work daily in the hottest spots to save lives.