The chief doctor of the special forces unit “Zubr” of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Belarus spoke about “female” and “male” professions

We met Tatyana Baranova shortly after the employees of the detachment returned from the disaster area: during search and rescue operations they pulled six people alive from the rubble …- This is our first such international mission, – said Tatyana Sergeevna. – The main thing was to get there quickly, because every hour is actually someone’s life saved. We had no combat experience dealing with the aftermath of earthquakes. This natural disaster is not typical of our region. But we had to get people out of the rubble. Plus hundreds of hours of practice behind…With extreme care, salvage work was carried out on buildings that were standing, but were badly damaged and could collapse from repeated shocks. Tatyana Baranova revealed the details of the incredible story of the rescue of two guys who spent seven days under the rubble. Having established solid contact with the victims, the Belarusian rescuers made a technological opening and reinforced the fragments of the building structures, saving people from the stone trap.Since we spoke with Tatyana Sergeevna on the eve of March 8, I wanted to hear her reasoning about “female” and “male” professions. Here comes disaster medicine – who’s on the shoulder the most? But she always brought the conversation closer to the main thing, making it clear that in her mind there were no “non-female” professions. The conversation turns to the skills and abilities that a Ministry of Emergencies medical worker needs. He must of course be able to work with equipment, to intubate correctly, to apply splints, collars, tourniquets… But the skills of a resuscitator are essential. The usual therapist does not possess them. By the way, this year the Ministry of Emergency Situations is launching a first aid training project. Emergency doctors will undergo additional training on the basis of the rescue service and attend special courses in Russia. The program covers many topics: how to carefully remove the victim from the car, resuscitation, types and methods of stopping bleeding, actions in case of burns, frostbite and various poisonings.
Tatyana Baranova shows the workplace of the medical service – an ambulance for emergency medical care. Ministry of Emergencies Medical Service and Ambulance vehicles are very similar, the only difference is that the former have more advanced resuscitation equipment functionality. There is even an empty mattress. The victim is wrapped in it and the air is pumped in so that it conforms to the shape of the patient’s body and hardens. It is said that such a mattress is an indispensable thing if the victim has a serious spinal injury and the hospital is far away…Three people work as a team at the exit: a doctor, an ambulance driver and a medical driver. Estimated time for collection – minute. The main specialization of the detachment is search and rescue during collapses. But there are many other emergencies. Emergencies Ministry doctor Yury Geleklidi, who joins the conversation, notes that seasonality is strongly felt in the work of Emergencies Ministry doctors:- Autumn-winter – the period of fires. Everything is on fire: stoves, fireplaces, radiators, Christmas trees… There is a very large flow of victims of poisoning by combustion products and burns. There are many fishermen who have fallen through the ice – frostbite, drowning… In the summer, we also often go to the water bodies, to assist bathers.Situations for many years of practice have occurred very differently. Once, the help of a rescue doctor was needed for a crane operator who fell ill in the cabin at a height of more than 50 meters. Yes, children pose a lot of problems. They get stuck in the most unexpected places: under rails, in a radiator, balcony railings, a washing machine, and even in a central computer unit…In order to maintain good professional and physical fitness, the rescuers constantly train both in the training hall and on the training ground. All skills are practiced on special dummies that can simulate almost any injury. In addition to advanced resuscitation skills at automatism, a medical rescuer must also have a special set of personal qualities, Tatyana Baranova believes:- In conditions where there is practically no time to make a decision, you need to be calm, not get lost and do everything right. And, of course, empathy, without which it is impossible in our profession.