Teaching Helps Save Lives

At the end of August 2023, the Simulation Training Centre of Ternopil National Medical University once again became a place for training and improving the skills of combat medics and sanitary instructors of one of the military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The training was conducted by Viktor Shatskyi, Associate Professor of the Department of Disaster and Military Medicine.

V. Shatskyi says: “Sharing the knowledge with the military, who defend our sovereignty and independence, is a special and honourable mission for me. I believe that each of us in our place is bringing victory closer. To teach those who save lives on the front lines, who help our military in the most urgent moments – this is my responsible task as a teacher of the Department of Disaster Medicine and a citizen.”

Three days of intensive training covered theory, working out manipulations and simulations. Ahead of the attendees are difficult weekdays on the front lines.

Those who gained knowledge and practical skills under the guidance of Viktor Shatskyi, Associate Professor of the Department of Disaster and Military Medicine, note the high level of the course.

“I attended a course on tactical medicine for three days. For a person who encountered medicine for the first time, everything was clear. Everything was well and succinctly explained to us. A lot of practice. What I liked the most was practicing skills on mannequins, which helps develop muscle memory and provides an opportunity to master manipulation. As they say, it’s better to do it once than to hear it 10 times. For example, when you have intravenous access, despite the fact that you see and feel it all yourself, when you get the opportunity to insert a catheter yourself, even on a mannequin, you not only see how it happens, you remember it better. It’s actually very cool!”, said health instructor Mykhailo.

Another health instructor, Rostyslav, noted that he had many injuries in his life, so he had to help himself more than once. “It was interesting to see some of the skills demonstrated by the teacher. I didn’t even know about many of them. Thanks to this three-day course, I enriched my experience in rescuing the wounded. However, it is a pity that the course is so short. I would like to further expand my knowledge and skills in rescue. That’s why I’m waiting for new meetings,” the soldier added.

“I really liked the combination of theory with a lot of practice. I want to thank the teacher for the high-quality, simple and accessible explanation and teaching of the material even for people without a medical education. During this course, I learned a lot of things that I did not understand before, I was able to put the acquired knowledge into practice, everything was systematized in my head, as if it were spread out on the shelves,” said soldier Mykhailo.

“I have repeatedly attended various courses in tactical medicine. I want to say that these three-day courses gave me both additional knowledge and the opportunity to repeat what I knew before. It was interesting to assess the level of our skills in the simulations proposed by the teacher. The conclusion is to learn and improve. In this course, the material is as structured and succinct as possible. We had a lot of practice, we had the opportunity to work on the mannequins as much as we individually needed. Very cool feedback from the teacher. Thank you, Mr. Viktor,” concluded health instructor Maksym.

Viktor Shatskyi expresses his appreciation to all the attendees for being diligent in training, for their questions and persistent desire to know and be able to. And as usual, at the end of each of his courses, he wished everyone that the acquired knowledge would not be needed in practice. However, if the need arises, let the acquired skills help save the lives.