Banner Health trauma physicians training Ukraine medical personnel

Editors/producers: High-resolution video interview/b-roll for this story is available for download here.

PHOENIX (July 8, 2022) – As the war in Ukraine continues, emergency trauma physicians at Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix are doing their part to contribute to the medical community there. Several physicians are delivering live virtual training sessions on trauma for medical professionals and health care workers on the frontlines.

Aside from basic trauma care, the sessions focus on scenarios involving crush injuries, blast wounds, and burn treatment, as well as mental health trauma. The trainings are taking place in the Simulation Emergency Trauma Center, where mannequins with realistic wounds are used to assist with teaching how to clinically assess and treat such patients.
 
The program was coordinated by Project ECHO, a non-profit based out of the University of New Mexico, after the Ukraine Ministry of Health requested basic trauma care training for medical personnel. The 16-part series offers extremely valuable and potentially life-saving instruction for participants, many of whom work in a pre-hospital, live combat setting.

Dr. Nirav Patel, a trauma acute care surgeon and one of the panelists for the program, says the trainings are invaluable for participants.

“With our Simulation Center, we have the ability to demonstrate to them what injuries may look like clinically and how we may do procedures in a very realistic situation,” says Patel.

“We’re part of a huge international family, and activities like this really highlight Banner’s commitment to not only serving our local communities, but also how we play a role in a much bigger picture around the world.”

Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix is a large teaching hospital that has provided medical care to Arizona and the Southwest since 1911. It is part of Banner – University Medicine, a premier academic medical network. The institution, which has trained thousands of doctors over decades as a teaching hospital, is the academic medical center for The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. The hospital, recognized by U.S. News and World Report as one of the nation’s best hospitals, specializes in heart care, cancer care, high-risk obstetrics, neurosciences, organ transplants, medical toxicology and emergency care, including a Level I trauma center. Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix is part of Banner Health, a nonprofit health care system with 30 hospitals in six states. For more information, visit bannerhealth.com/universityphoenix.

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