Ukrainian Knights receive first-aid training through partnership with the Order of Malta

By Andrii Hlushko

9/5/2024

Source

First-aid training mannequins lie on a table, along with various tools and devices. About 20 Knights — men of different professions and paths of life — gather around an instructor, observing his treatment of a “victim.” They will spend their weekend here at the Parish of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lviv, Ukraine, learning the most necessary lifesaving skills from trainers with Malteser International, the relief agency of the Order of Malta.

For Ukrainians, the issue of saving lives — their own and their neighbors’ — is on the agenda every day. Houses are still being destroyed and human blood is still being shed in Ukrainian cities, even hundreds of kilometers away from the front line.

“We live in a time of war, when you don’t know what will happen in a minute, or two, or the next day,” said one of the participants, Grand Knight Vasyl Zvarych of St. John Bosco Council 16846 in Lviv. “The Russians are shooting at us, civilians, with missiles, drones and other means. No one knows where it will land, where the Shahed [missile] or anything else will fall. That is why it is very important for everyone to be able to provide proper first aid, because we’re talking about saving lives.”

There may be only a few minutes between an explosion and the arrival of first responders, but those minutes are crucial.

“A lot depends on the actions [of the people around], whether the person is saved or not,’ explained Malteser first-aid trainer Oleksandr Boryshchak. “An ambulance arrives at the scene in eight to 12 minutes. If no one does anything at the scene, every minute of inaction is a minus 10% chance of saving a life.”

That’s why the Knights of Columbus has started organizing first-aid training sessions with the Order of Malta, just one facet of an expanding partnership between the lay Catholic orders.

“The knowledge gained will help to improve the level of training of the Knights, which in turn will enable them to provide qualified medical care in critical or emergency situations,” affirmed Ukraine State Deputy Mykola Mostovyak.

Malteser International has been working in Ukraine since the 1990s, and the agency has a lot of experience to be inspired by and learn from. During the massive civil protests against Russian interference and government corruption that took place in Kyiv in 2013-2014 — known as the Maidan Revolution — members of the organization served food to protestors from a field kitchen in Independence Square. The conflict escalated in February 2014, and scores of protestors, known today as the Heavenly Hundred, were killed in the square.

“We don’t know if we could have saved anyone back then if we had these skills,” said Victoria Shulgan, a Malteser volunteer in Ivano-Frankivsk. “But the idea that we need to develop this volunteer rescue service arose during the Euromaidan in Kyiv.”

Today, the organization’s volunteers deliver humanitarian aid, serve as rescuers near the frontlines and elsewhere, and conduct first-aid training for hundreds of people and organizations. This time, it was for Knights of Columbus in Lviv. Over the weekend of July 20-21, members of several councils learned how to stop bleeding, manage broken bones, perform CPR and more.

“[The training] is dynamic, with a lot of practice and practical application of your skills,” Shulgan said. “We do simulations similar to real-life situations. That’s why our first aid training is more efficient than just a lecture.”

Boryshchak, commandant of the Malteser Ivano-Frankivsk volunteer rescue unit, found the Knights to be receptive students.

“It was immediately obvious that each of them was interested in this course,” he said.
They actively listened and asked question. I usually conduct trainings for people who don’t know each other. And here is a team where you are not ashamed to ask something, to suggest something. It was very fun, positive and open.”

After two days of training, all participants passed the final test and received certificates of completion. This means that two dozen more men can provide help to their loved ones, neighbors and anyone they meet on the streets of Lviv.

About two weeks after the training session, Fra’ John Dunlap, grand master of the Order of Malta, attended the 142nd Supreme Convention in Québec City, where he was recognized and thanked by Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly in his annual report.

To learn more about our work in Ukraine and to support those efforts, visit kofc.org/ukraine.