In times of war and peaceful emergencies, first aid skills become vital. There are a number of charitable organisations and projects in Ukraine that provide free training in first aid. These initiatives, ranging from traditional humanitarian societies to online platforms, offer visitors courses in resuscitation, stopping bleeding, transporting victims, and more.
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Red Cross
The Ukrainian Red Cross Society conducts certified first aid training courses that are recognised in 191 countries around the world. These courses (lasting 6, 12 or 48 hours) are mostly paid for by regular participants, but a number of categories can study for free. In particular, the Red Cross provides free training to its employees and volunteers, wounded combatants, rescuers (State Emergency Service), military personnel, police officers and people with disabilities. Thanks to such programmes, tens of thousands of Ukrainians acquire first aid skills every year.
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Community initiatives and volunteer projects
Community organisations and volunteers are actively involved in raising public awareness of first aid. The All-Ukrainian Union of Paramedics has launched an online course covering more than 20 topics related to first aid (from algorithms for seizures and heart attacks to wound treatment and stopping bleeding). The union has also distributed free special materials and courses on pre-medical care for schoolchildren and children. The volunteer organisation Motohelp regularly conducts live training sessions on pre-medical care, announcing events on its platforms. In addition, the SAV training centre has made video materials on pre-medical care freely available and organises free offline training courses on tactical medicine for military personnel, police officers, civil defence personnel and volunteers in various regions of the country. Similarly, the Ukrainian School of Rescue in Kyiv conducts free tactical medicine courses for military personnel, for example, according to the TCCC-ASM (therapeutic care in combat conditions) protocol. All these initiatives aim to teach both military and civilians the basics of saving lives at no additional cost to them.
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Online educational platforms and courses
Online first aid courses have become widespread. In particular, the Prometheus platform offers a free 15-hour course on ‘First Aid in War Conditions.’ This course teaches how to stop bleeding using tamponade and tourniquets, perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, provide assistance for burns and hypothermia, and more. This mass online course was created with the support of the Nova Ukraine charitable foundation and the Ministry of Health. In addition, the public organisation Smart Education, in partnership with EdEra, has launched a free online course called ‘Pre-medical Care,’ in which experts show in detail the algorithms for providing assistance in cases of trauma and various emergency conditions. All these resources are available to Ukrainians free of charge and do not require any prior training, so anyone who wants to can gain knowledge.
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Local projects
Some regional initiatives also offer free training. For example, in Lviv, the Ukrainian Medical Association, together with teachers from the local medical college, organises free first aid courses. The classes teach how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, dress wounds and stop critical bleeding. Similar free seminars on first aid are periodically held in other cities: they are initiated by local doctors, philanthropists or public organisations to support the population in dangerous times.
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