Latvia to double intake of wounded Ukrainian soldiers for treatment

Wounded Ukrainian soldiers will now be transported to Latvia twice a month for treatment and rehabilitation. The decision was made based on the experience gained by Latvian medical and rehabilitation institutions in treating casualties from Russia's war against Ukraine.

Source: European Pravda, citing Delfi

Details: In addition to the existing patient transfer flight, Latvia will introduce a second dedicated flight for patients who, after an initial assessment at the Riga East Clinical University Hospital (RAKUS), will be referred to specialised rehabilitation centres.

The hospital said that, at the end of July, it received 32 more seriously wounded Ukrainian soldiers in its 41st evacuation mission. Since the start of the full-scale war, 985 patients evacuated from Ukraine have received treatment at RAKUS.

As usual, all patients underwent comprehensive medical assessments at the hospital's Emergency Medicine and Admissions Clinic.

Following examinations, patients will be transferred to other medical and rehabilitation facilities across Latvia according to the nature of their injuries. Nine patients are expected to be transferred to the National Rehabilitation Centre Vaivari, four to the Līgatne Rehabilitation Centre, and 19 to the Jaunķemeri Rehabilitation Centre.

Treatment at RAKUS involves specialists from a wide range of medical fields, including trauma surgeons, general surgeons, microsurgeons, infectious disease specialists, physicians specialising in physical and rehabilitation medicine, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, radiologists and laboratory specialists.

The patients are transported to RAKUS through a private initiative organised by the founders of the M-Help.com charity project, Arvis Rekets and Mārtiņš Medinieks.

Background:

• Earlier this year, the European Commission announced that it had facilitated the safe evacuation of more than 5,000 patients from Ukraine to hospitals in 22 European countries under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to receive specialised medical care.
• The Norwegian government has also agreed, at the EU's request, to extend its programme for transporting patients from Ukraine for treatment in hospitals in Norway and elsewhere in Europe until the end of 2027.

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