“Under anesthesia, wounded people often confess to nurses that they are in love. This illustrates one simple thing.” History of the medical service officer

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The senior lieutenant of the medical service Oleksandr Rogov has a funny nickname – Shurupchyk. He takes his work very seriously, and sometimes he likes to “intrude” on the duties of his colleagues. They ironically gave him such a nickname.

Oleksandr is 39 years old, and before the full-scale war, he worked as an anesthesiologist for 15 years, 13 of which were at the Orihiv District Hospital in Zaporizhzhia. The Russians are now methodically erasing this city from the face of the earth.

During the first three months of the war, Oleksandr provided aid to the wounded as a civilian medic, and when the hospital had to be closed after several artillery and air strikes, he was mobilized into the 128th separate Transcarpathian Mountain Assault Brigade.

“But cut off your hand so it doesn’t get in the way”

– Mobilized in June of last year – after one of the hospital buildings was destroyed by a Russian KAB (guided aerial bomb), – Oleksandr says. – Before that, we treated military and civilians together with the medics of the 128th brigade, we worked well, that’s why I decided to join the Armed Forces. And I don’t regret it…

The first three months of the war were the most difficult for Alexander, despite the fact that he worked at home, in his hometown.

Oleksandr is one of the most frequent visitors to the “gym” and the only one of the doctors at the headquarters who does not smoke

– We did not yet realize what was really happening, the understanding came later, – Oleksandr continues. – They simply accepted the wounded, mostly from the 128th mountain assault brigade, which held back the enemy in Zaporozhye. These were terrible wounds – torn off arms, legs, damaged chests and stomachs. As a civilian doctor, I knew what disaster medicine is, a large flow of patients with severe polytraumas and hemorrhagic shock, but this happens extremely rarely in civilian life: except for massive road accidents or man-made disasters. And in war it is constant.

Civilian doctors then had to change to military medicine on the go.

– The most striking impressions were from the first wounded, but one fighter was especially memorable – a young boy from Transcarpathia, 21 or 22 years old. His arm was almost severed above the elbow, holding on to a scrap of skin. The boy is shocked, but conscious. When they started to take off his jacket, there was no other choice but to cut off his arm. And he said: “Cut off your hand already so it doesn’t get in the way.” And after a minute he added: “You help me, do what is necessary as soon as possible. And then they will send me a prosthesis, and I will return to my boys – I will not lie with you for a long time.”

He did not yet understand that he would not be able to fight without a hand, so he rushed back, that’s all motivated And such were the majority, and are now. They are very different from randoms, as I call them. Those who have just crossed the threshold of the checkpoint after the shelling of the positions, how they start to take out the outpatient card and tell that their back or knee hurt even before the war. I don’t want to condemn anyone, but the first guys motivate everyone – both their comrades and doctors. It is because of them that there is still a desire to do something, to contribute to the victory.

At the end of last summer, the 128th brigade was transferred to the Kherson region, heavy assaults began, which are impossible without casualties. The stabilization center then worked non-stop, a huge number of wounded people passed through medical hands.

– If in Zaporizhzhia, where the brigade was on the defensive, we received 10-20 wounded a day, then during the liberation of Kherson Oblast – up to 400! – says Oleksandr. – I have a double specialty – an anesthesiologist-reanimatologist, and when you constantly see death, you understand that you cannot do anything, but you have to turn off your emotions and perceive everything as a normal job, it leaves a special imprint on the psyche.

At that time, three anesthesiologists worked in the headquarters – two were constantly in the operating rooms, and the third was in triage – providing assistance to the lightly wounded.

– In fact, it was a conveyor belt, – Oleksandr remembers. – We didn’t have time to rearrange the operating table and sort the instruments, as we brought in a new fighter. They worked at a frantic pace. When there is a continuous flow of wounded, you do not perceive the scale. You just know that you have to save a person’s life and after the 10th you don’t count anymore. And then there is a pause of several minutes, during which you go out into the fresh air and hear from a colleague how many wounded people passed through your hands. Only then do you realize the scale of this war, this human catastrophe…

While providing aid to the wounded. Oleksandr is the second from the right in the pixel T-shirt

“My colleagues and I agreed from the first days of the war that the wounded would not scream in pain”

After the Kherson region, the brigade fought in Bakhmut. The flow of wounded here was smaller (after all, the combat units were on the defensive, not storming the enemy), but the work of medics did not become easier.

– It was winter, due to constant shelling, the positions turned into a cold, viscous swamp, and many fighters, in addition to injuries, had hypothermia, – Oleksandr says. – And there are a lot of severe burns. I remember they brought us guys who were pulled out of a burning tank. One has terrible burns, but he is conscious. It’s even scarier…

In the Bakhmut direction, all the wounded who were taken to the stabilization point survived. It happened that fighters died of wounds on the way from the positions, some died later already in the inpatient hospital, but in the “stabik” medics saved everyone.

– This is not showing off, but a fact, – says Oleksandr. – At our stage, we did everything possible, and we can say that we were lucky. But for such “happiness” you have to try very hard.

From the first days of the war, the doctors of the stabilization center agreed that they would do everything to prevent the wounded from screaming in pain. Although they have to do very painful procedures. Even removing the form cut with scissors in open fractures is impossible without causing pain, not to mention such a procedure as revision of the wound.

– Analgesia is the task of an anesthesiologist, – Alexander explains. – And I make it so that the boys do not suffer. Under the effect of anesthesia, the wounded fall asleep, and when they wake up and are still in a semi-conscious state, they often say strange things (a common phenomenon during anesthesia). If a nurse is nearby, they confess their love, give compliments, propose marriage. It is always like this, and it illustrates one simple thing – guys in the war do not see their family, their wives, lovers or just girls for a very long time. They lack grace, care, and this lack is breaking through.

Operation of the stabilization point during the reception of the wounded

In one of the free rooms, where the stabilization center is now set up, the doctors set up an improvised gym – covered a wooden bench with foam rubber, brought several dumbbells, attached a horizontal bar to the wall… Doctors should also relieve their brains from work when there is an opportunity for this. Oleksandr is one of the most frequent visitors to the “gym”, besides, he is the only one of the “stabik” doctors who does not smoke.

– I try to keep myself in a sports shape, in addition, exercises relieve the brain a little, – says Oleksandr. – I also like literature, but it is desirable to read with concentration, and here it is rarely possible. Will the experience of military medicine be useful to me in civilian life? The longer the war lasts, the harder it will be to return to civilian life. Personally, I don’t want to transfer my current experience there. I did not come here for experience, but to fulfill my duty – to contribute to victory. And if it is possible to help, to save more boys, that will be enough for me.

Yaroslav Halas, an officer of the 128th separate mountain assault brigade of the Zakarpattia brigade, specially for UP. Life

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