Media workers in front-line areas must know how to apply tourniquets and bandages as it saves lives, says a journalist from Zaporizhzhia

The Zaporizhzhia Journalists’ Solidarity Center (JSC) of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) has organized training for journalists working in the front-line areas on the provision of pre-medical assistance. A representative of the Red Cross of Ukraine taught journalists basic first aid skills: how to compress and bandage a wound and apply a tourniquet.

This knowledge is needed to save one’s life in the event of an injury and to provide first aid to other victims.

“Timely provision of first aid to a victim in extreme circumstances not only saves a person’s life but also prevents the development of complications,” says first aid coach Serhii Smetankin. “It is all the more important to have such skills for journalists who, during the war, go to the front-line territories or the places under shelling.”

The coach warned against imprudence when applying tourniquets: they must be placed on clothing and, in its absence – on cotton fabric, which will protect the victim’s body from additional injury.

During the session, journalists learned how to provide first aid to victims in practice. The medics have mastered, in particular, applying bandages and providing first aid in case of heavy bleeding and the event of a foreign body entering the wound. As it turned out, in no case can it be removed from the wound on one’s own. It is necessary to fix the object with the help of fabric rollers and a bandage. Further actions are at the discretion of the doctors.

“At the safety master class, I learned how to provide first aid to myself and those who need it nearby,” says Eleonora Shagabutdinova, a correspondent at the Accent online media. “This is the knowledge and skills that save lives in waiting for medical workers. So, journalists must know them if they go to fulfill their professional duty to the front-line territories or in other risk zones during the war.”

Call the Zaporizhzhia JSC at 096 277 5352 (Nataliya Kuzmenko and Valentyna Manzhura, the Zaporizhzhia JSC coordinators). The Center’s address is 152 Sobornyi Avenue.

ABOUT JSC

The Journalists’ Solidarity Centers is an initiative of the NUJU implemented with the support of the International and European Federations of Journalists and UNESCO. The initiative is designated to help media representatives working in Ukraine during the war. The Centers operate in Kyiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipro and provide journalists with organizational, technical, legal, psychological, and other types of assistance.

ABOUT UNESCO

UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. It contributes to peace and security by promoting international cooperation in education, sciences, culture, communication, and information. UNESCO promotes knowledge sharing and the free flow of ideas to accelerate mutual understanding. It is the coordinator of the UN Action Plan on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, which aims to create a free and safe environment for journalists and media workers, thus strengthening peace, democracy, and sustainable development worldwide. UNESCO is working closely with its partner organizations in Ukraine to provide support to journalists on the ground.

The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this digest do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area or its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this digest and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit to the organization.

Olena Karelina

Photo by Dariya Zyrianova