Journalists ready to work in extreme conditions – training at Zaporizhzhia JSC

“Don’t approach, don’t touch, be careful, help yourself and others,” – do we all know this simple algorithm of actions in an extreme situation? Rescuers of the State Emergency Situations Service (SESS) taught journalists how to protect themselves and, if necessary, provide assistance to others at a comprehensive training. The training was held at the initiative of the Zaporizhzhia Journalists’ Solidarity Center of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU).

The rescuers in a new safety class equipped at the Main Directorate of the SESS in the Zaporizhzhia Region taught media workers how to properly use a fire extinguisher (not everyone knows!), how to act in the event of a fire, reminded them of the rules for using electrical appliances and practiced the algorithm of actions when detecting explosive objects. The instructors of the Rapid Response Unit of the Ukrainian Military Medical Corps in the Zaporizhzhia Region once again taught journalists how to properly provide first aid for mine-blast injuries, in particular, how to apply tourniquets and pressure bandages, and how to act in case of thermal skin lesions.

“For a front-line city, where journalists constantly work in places of missile attacks, bombings, and destroyed infrastructure and residential facilities, knowledge is paramount. It is also important for those media workers who go to the front line or front-line territories. That is why, despite the tight work schedule, I try to attend such training sessions, because we are talking about knowledge that saves lives,” says front-line TV journalist Eva Mironova.

The second part of the event took place on the Vesluvalnyi Canal, where journalists learned the rules of conduct on ice. Rescuers showed how to properly pull a person out of the water who fell through fragile ice. Do not go full height, but carefully crawl, throw a rope, a jacket sleeve, or whatever is at hand. Emergency workers also clearly demonstrated how much heavier clothes and shoes become when they get wet, weighing them before and after. Several times!

“We see that our training sessions are not in vain because you already know a lot. In principle, you are ready to work in extreme conditions, you will not get confused, you will be able to help, but at the same time, you have learned a lot of new things. Repetition in our conditions is not at all superfluous,” noted the spokesperson of the SESS/Colonel of Civil Defense/member of the secretariat of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Journalist Organization, Yuliya Barysheva, summing up the results of the comprehensive safety training.

The event ended in the open air – the organizers treated the journalists to their pancakes, pies, hot tea, and coffee.

The network of Journalists’ Solidarity Centers is an initiative of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, implemented in collaboration with the International and European Federations of Journalists and UNESCO and with the support of the People of Japan. Our primary goal is to assist media professionals working in Ukraine during the war. The Centers are active in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Lviv, and Ivano-Frankivsk. The project is part of UNESCO’s broader efforts to support the Safety of Journalists and Freedom of Expression in Ukraine.

Call the Zaporizhzhia JSC at 096 277 5352 (Nataliya Kuzmenko and Valentyna Manzhura, coordinators of the Zaporizhzhia JSC). The Center’s address is 15 Sobornyi Avenue.

Valentyna Bystrova

Photo by Dariya Zyrianova and SESS’s press service