The Ukrainian team is matter-of-fact when answering questions. They’ve come from Kiev and Lviv. They’re burn surgeons and nurses. They see patients with gunshot and explosion wounds, combined with burn injuries—in short, war-related trauma.
They’ve come to Temple Health, the Ukrainian team explains, to observe the best practices and techniques of a leading American burn center. They hope to apply what they’ve learned to more effectively treat their patients, especially since burn injuries have become far more common since the Russian invasion in 2022. Ukraine also lacks efficiently-organized medical infrastructure, they note, and they would like to use what they’ve seen of the U.S. hospital system to rebuild their country’s institutions.
They’ll have this opportunity thanks to Lisa Rae, MD, FACS, Chief of Burn Surgery at Temple Health and Associate Professor of Surgery at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (Katz). “I became involved in this project when Global Response Medicine (GRM), a non-governmental organization that is working with the World Health Organization (WHO), asked for help with burn care when the war began,” Dr. Rae says. “I went to Lviv to see the burn center there, and to do a needs assessment with the surgeons, to try and determine where we could help facilitate burn care for better outcomes during this really trying time.”
“Dr. Rae has been our Chief of Burn Surgery for the last six years, and is such an expert in the field,” says Amy J. Goldberg, MD, FACS, The Marjorie Joy Katz Dean of Katz. “When she approached me about first going over to Ukraine—and then bringing a team of burn surgeons and nurses from Ukraine here, so she could share her expertise, and her entire team’s expertise—it was really a no-brainer. This is what we do at Temple, and who we are: if there’s a need, it’s our role to support it.”
Temple Techniques and Technologies
GRM organized the team of Ukrainian burn surgeons and nurses, which also included an anesthesiologist and another physician who served as a translator. The visitors spent two weeks at TUH-Main Campus, observing care at the Temple Burn Center and the rest of the hospital.
“We had access to almost every part of the hospital,” explains burn surgeon Olena Frantseva. “We visited the Burn Intensive Care Unit (ICU), the Burn OR and the ORs of other departments, including Surgery, where we witnessed the use of high-end technology, including robotics.”
“We were able to track the route of a burn patient from the Emergency Department to the Department of Rehabilitation through to recovery,” says burn surgeon Anton Kovalenko. “We also visited the Training Center, and the Cardiac and Trauma ICUs.”
This wide-ranging access allowed the Ukrainian team to observe the latest burn treatment techniques. “We witnessed the use of different kinds of wound dressings, and saw all the capabilities of brand-new ReCell (autologous spray on skin graft) technology, which is highly precise and effective,” Kovalenko says.
“It’s been a pleasure to share our techniques and new technologies with the team from Ukraine,” Dr. Rae says. “I wanted to offer anything we could to improve their burn care, and to ensure that patients who experience burn injuries not only survive, but are able to live full lives with their families. It’s been great to show this team the holistic approach to burn care that we have developed, and to help them improve their approaches in Ukraine.”
Strength and Dedication
One of the Temple Burn Center team members who spent time with the Ukrainian delegation was Natalya Ridkodim, RN, who became a nurse at Temple Health after immigrating from Ukraine over two decades ago.
“It’s been a pleasure working with them,” Ridkodim says. “I’m a little emotional, because Ukraine is my country. A few days ago, Olena told me that these last two weeks have been the happiest of her life, and I can say the same. It was just the most touching experience, and I will never forget it.”
The stories the Ukrainian team shared, Ridkodim continues, were overwhelming—but left her astonished by their bravery. “At the beginning of the war, some doctors didn’t leave their facilities for 54 days,” she recalls. “Because of the nursing shortage, in certain ICUs, there are 10 patients for every nurse.”
“It’s an unimaginable situation,” Dr. Rae agrees. “You listen to these dedicated physicians and nurses speak about treating burns, which can be so challenging already. Then you add wartime injuries and all of the infrastructure that’s needed to get patients out of frontline hospitals safely so they can receive complex care, and to bring some relief to those hospitals. It’s an overwhelming undertaking.”
“It’s just been such a privilege to have this group of talented, dedicated, heartfelt clinicians come and be with us, and allow us to try to help in any way we can,” Dr. Rae continues. “It’s been a real honor.”