More than a month has passed since that terrible day of Russian terror when a rocket hit a children’s hospital
That day was the most tragic for residents of Kyiv and Dnipropetrovs’k region… According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, more than 200 people were injured and 38 were killed in a massive rocket attack on July 8.
The scene of the tragedy, the largest pediatric hospital in Kyiv and Ukraine, OKHMATDYT (Multidisciplinary Diagnostic and Treatment Center “Protection of Motherhood and Childhood”), made the situation especially horrifying.
It was a day of bitter and painful experience for the Kyiv EMC system and the team of our Institution in coordinating the response to the terrible tragedy.
Dozens of victims, hospitalized and evacuated, including newborns and premature babies who needed specific care and medical support; hundreds of people looking for relatives and friends, seeking information and offering to help; convoys of several dozen ambulances waiting to take away small patients with special needs; hundreds of calls asking about urgent needs…
The involvement of all concerned civilians and medics is extremely impressive. These are both OKHMATDYT employees and medical teams/groups from various healthcare facilities that came in their special vehicles to help take away serious patients – those on oxygen support, mechanical respiration, parenteral nutrition, and those in need of daily therapy… The Heart Institute, the Cancer Institute, private clinics Dobrobut, Oberig, Impulse and the neighboring Kyiv Oblast Emergency Department supported the Kyiv City Emergency Medical Services. Dozens of charitable, public and international organizations and medical students were looking for opportunities to help. Medical staff from other healthcare facilities were ready to replace OKHMATDYT colleagues on duty. Hundreds of volunteers with children’s clothes and food, water, medicines, bandages, dozens of boxes of sweets, fruit, and food took part in the relief efforts.
The coordination headquarters for emergency response at the scene was headed by a group of the Ministry of Health under the leadership of Minister of Health Viktor Lyashko.
We are taking steps to conduct a deep, detailed analysis to strengthen the coordination system between healthcare facilities and emergency medical services in the face of damage to the medical infrastructure and emergency evacuation of healthcare facilities.
Once again, we thank each of you for your work, colleagues, and believe in our Victory! Glory to Ukraine! 
