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Press release no. 19
Release date April 26, 2023
Reconstruction Ukraine, Schillaci: in the field with medical teams and structures for prostheses and wounded rehabilitation The project to support the Superhumans Center for war wounds
The Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, met Olga Rudnieva, CEO of the Superhumans Center for War Wounds, a non-profit organization of the city of Lviv supported by the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, engaged in the reconstruction of the limbs of military and civilian wounded in Ukraine.
“Since the beginning of the conflict, Italy has supported the Ukrainian government and people to deal with the damage caused by this terrible war and the related humanitarian crisis – declared Minister Schillaci – in the context of the reconstruction process, we are ready to do our part by supporting the Superhumans Center in the activities of limb reconstruction and rehabilitation of the injured”.
In fact, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the need for prosthetic treatments has increased: more than 10,000 Ukrainians will need prosthetics and rehabilitation; among the over 8,000 wounded soldiers, 70.5% suffered major injuries to the limbs, 5.2% suffered amputations, mostly caused by explosions, 18% suffered more than one amputation.
“We have established a partnership of centers of excellence in the field of prosthetic interventions and rehabilitation and which have already gained experience of medical support in Ukraine during the emergency: Inail Prosthetic Center, Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute of Bologna, Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital, Santa Foundation Lucia and the Italian Red Cross. We provide Superhumans with medical teams and facilities to provide personalized medical care, increase the capacity of local health infrastructures and enhance human resources. Together with CEO Rudnieva we will agree on which actions are considered priorities based on the needs of the Ukrainian population and structures”.
The project
Medical assistance
– Willingness to organize an on-site medical and nursing team to evaluate the clinical conditions of patients to be hospitalized in Italy or perform surgical, prosthetic and rehabilitation operations of complex cases that cannot be transferred to Italy
– Organize a telemedicine service for remote assistance to patients and to offer advice to medical teams operating on site
– Develop a standardized and integrated path to provide surgical, prosthetic and rehabilitative assistance for certain complex cases in highly specialized units in Italy.
Expansion of infrastructural and technological capacity
The goal is to improve the Ukrainian health system in the field of prosthetics and rehabilitation:
– support for the integrated organization of departments, services, specialized clinical activities as well as the reorganization of patient care pathways
– support for the expansion and modernization of the prosthesis production workshop of the Yuriy Lipa Lviv Regional Hospital, both in technological and quantitative terms
– support in interaction with international networks already active in the field of prosthetics and rehabilitation
Training
The project aims to increase the proficiency of the Ukrainian workforce in prosthesis manufacturing and in the field of high-tech interventional medicine:
– on-site training activities for doctors, therapists and nurses to be employed in the neurorehabilitation department
– development of an e-learning platform to support the on-site training of medical and technical personnel
– development of a path for advanced training (neurorehabilitation, neuropsychology, speech disorders) to be carried out in Italy aimed at all doctors already specialized in neurology, physiatry or pediatric neurology.
The centers
Activities during the emergency in Ukraine
Irccs Rizzoli of Bologna
Collaboration with the Italian Red Cross for the transport, through safe international routes, of patients who then arrived at the facility in Bologna.
Management of some patients initially treated in the war scenario.
Offer of direct support on the Ukrainian territory, at the Lviv hospital, with the dispatch of teams of doctors and nurses to carry out surgical interventions and to plan rehabilitation.
Taking charge of patients at the Bologna hospital.
Consultations in telemedicine and implementation of tele-rehabilitation projects.
Infant Jesus Hospital
In the March 2022OPBG sent a team composed of a pediatrician and an emergency nurse to Poland with the aim of evaluating the clinical conditions and priorities of Ukrainian children hospitalized on site.
11 humanitarian flights were organised, which transported 39 children and 68 family members to the OPBG.
All’April 11, 2023the total number of Ukrainian patients admitted to ordinary wards, DH, outpatient clinics, emergency departments reached 2151 units.
Italian Red Cross
During the emergency in Ukraine he worked constantly alongside the Italian Civil Protection and cooperated with the Ukrainian counterpart.
It carried out 83 emergency transports and delivered more than 3,500 tons of goods, food and medical equipment, also thanks to the support of the Suceava Hub in Romania.
Three emergency medical evacuations were organized from the city of Lviv which rescued 245 patients in need of medical treatment and rehabilitation.
The CRI has also developed a long-term on-site program to support the affected population: 30 medical vehicles (ambulances, medical vehicles, etc…) have been sent to the URCS to support the Mobile Health Unit project. Furthermore, the CRI, according to the local authorities and the URCS, will provide by autumn 2023, 120 temporary accommodations in the sites of Adriivka (Bucha Rayon, Kiev Oblast) and Zhytomyr.
Saint Lucia Foundation
Emergency activities in Ukraine saw the coordination of a neurorehabilitation department on site, directly managing medical, nursing and therapist staff; 20 beds offered in Italy in one of the neurorehabilitation departments; access to the sports therapy program and the introduction to Paralympic sport programme; remote and telemedicine consultation with your own doctors or psychologists.
INAIL Prosthesis Center
It is Europe’s largest hub dedicated to prosthetics, orthoses and assistive technology. It supplies 5,000 prostheses, orthoses and assistive technology services each year, primarily to adults who have suffered amputations due to traumatic events, disabling and/or congenital diseases.