Bolton: NHS workers return from Ukraine after proving medical help

The group, Nurses for Crisis, made the decision head out to Ukraine following the Russian invasion to provide training for medical staff.

The training included how to deal with gunshot wounds, how to use a tourniquet, a device used to apply pressure to a limb or extremity in order to stop the flow of blood, and how to deal with catastrophic bleeding, among other skills.

Marta Roscoe, originally from Poland but, in her words, a "proud adopted Boltonian", has been organising Nurses for Crisis' efforts.

She travelled to Ukraine with four other NHS workers, Louise Crossley-Birch, Janette Butterworth, Nikki Forshaw-Mahon and Michelle Piercy on Sunday, September 4.

They taught skills including how to deal with gunshot wounds, how to use a tourniquet and how to deal with catastrophic bleeding, among other skills. (Image: Marta Roscoe)

Nurses for Crisis are all experienced NHS workers from Bolton and elsewhere in Greater Manchester, having numerous decades’ worth of experience between them.

They all decided to go to Ukraine in their own time to help the people there.

Marta said: “We arrived at our destination on the Monday at 5am.

"After two hours of sleep we went to Lviv Emergency City Clinical Hospital, where we had a board meeting to discuss their needs and how we could help.

“We established that their nurses can do theoretic basic life support (BLS) but hadn’t had hands on training.

“We put together a bespoke programme delivered on a rolling basis- BLS from baby to adult, CPR, choking, catastrophic bleeding, gunshot wounds (and) tourniquet use.

The NHS workers who went to Ukraine. Clockwise from left: Louise Crossley-Birch, Marta Roscoe, Janette Butterworth, Nikki Forshaw-Mahon and Michelle Piercy. (Image: Marta Roscoe)

“We visited the local orphanage to deliver the same programme but adjusted to their needs with their traumatic personal experience taken into account, we were able to adapt the delivery to their needs more from a civilian aspect rather than a hospital.”

One of the nurses giving a medical demonstration on a dummy (Image: Marta Roscoe)

Some of the nurses with two wounded soldiers (Image: Marta Roscoe)

Marta and the nurses now have plans to go back to Ukraine to continue their work.

She said: “We’ve been invited to go back to the hospital. We’re in the process of finalising a training programme.

“The trip was successful; fact-finding.

"In the short time available, we managed to provide training in BLS, choking, catastrophic bleeding, gunshot wounds, use of tourniquets and basic first aid to the medical teams in Lviv Hospital, civilians and 100 teenagers in an orphanage.

The nurses visited hospitals and an orphanage (Image: Marta Roscoe)

“We have managed to debrief from this visit, and we are already planning training programmes to be delivered on our next visit.”

However, in order to go back to Ukraine and continue this important work, Marta and the nurses will need people’s help.

She said: “Every company in England has to have health and safety, life support training.

“For funding, it would be very hard to ask friends for money. What I was thinking is if I could deliver something, go to big companies and give staff health and safety training.

“We’d go there with dummies and mannequins and give a workshop in exchange for sponsorship.”

If you’d like to volunteer or book a workshop with Nurses for Crisis, you can email Marta on marta@nursesforcrisis.org and she’ll be posting updates and information about their efforts on Instagram page @nurses_for_crisis.