Ukrainian ‘Save a Life’ Video Series: Lifesaving Resources to Those Affected

As the war in Ukraine passes the one-year mark, a partnership of non-governmental organisations and academic public health experts has created a new series of 26 online educational videos to empower all Ukrainians—the public, healthcare workers, medics, firefighters and law enforcement—with the critical skills to save lives.

Based on a needs assessment with Ukrainian healthcare leaders, International Medical Corps (IMC), the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI), Mass General Brigham (MGB), Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH), the Global Medical Knowledge Alliance (GMKA) and ELEMENT Productions worked together to develop the videos, known as the ‘Save a Life’ series. The new series complements 10 videos already online since last year and are part of a larger effort with the Clinton Global Initiative to bring health information to regions experiencing humanitarian crises.

“Training is at the foundation of everything that International Medical Corps does,” said Todd Bernhardt, senior director of global communications for the global humanitarian organisation. “As part of the medical services we’ve been providing since the invasion, we’ve held in-person training sessions in Ukraine that so far have reached thousands of people. But the conflict is continually evolving and expanding, and we need to quickly and efficiently reach thousands more. This series of online videos will provide trusted and easily accessible information to caregivers, first responders and even the general public, enabling them to build on or acquire the skills needed to save lives.”

The videos, which are in Ukrainian with English subtitles, can be used in real time or reviewed before use. The videos, which supplement in-person courses currently being taught by the team in Ukraine on the most common emergency and trauma scenarios encountered in conflict settings, have already been viewed in Ukraine more than 2 million times in over 500 Ukrainian cities.

“The medical community is small in Ukraine, and we immediately began playing these videos in auditoriums and conference rooms throughout hospitals to help prepare us for emergencies. These videos are really helping our people,” said Ali Dzhemliev, MD, a Ukrainian surgeon from Kyiv.

The Ukrainian ‘Save a Life’ series expands on an effort started in April 2022 by Brigham and Women’s Hospital emergency medicine physician Eric Goralnick, MD, MS, along with a team of Mass General Brigham and Boston Children’s Hospital physicians and YouTube.

The group developed 10 novel, open-access online videos to educate the public on bleeding-control techniques, care for traumatic injuries and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high yield explosive preparedness. Now, the collaboration among International Medical Corps, the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and others has enabled the creation of 26 additional videos.

“Everyone who has access to a phone or computer can be empowered to save a life with these expertly developed, trusted, just-in-time videos readily accessed at a moment’s notice,” Goralnick said. “Our partners have each stepped up to team on this initiative. We now have a real opportunity to reduce preventable deaths in Ukraine and beyond, to help some of the 50 million whose health is impacted by conflicts.”

The ‘Save a Life’ series will continue to grow in the coming months, thanks to a partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). CGI became involved with the project in September 2022, when president Bill Clinton announced a CGI Commitment to Action to expand the video series to three additional regions experiencing humanitarian crises. The commitment supports 45 new videos, as well as development of rigorous measurement-and-evaluation measures to better understand their impact.

The commitment to action is called 'Trusted, Equitable, Open Access Humanitarian Health Education,' and is a collaboration among Ariadne Labs, a joint centre for health systems innovation at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, UNHCR-The UN Refugee Agency, ELEMENT Productions, International Medical Corps and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.

“The ‘Save a Life’ video series is making life-saving information accessible to Ukrainians in a conflict where anyone, anywhere, may be called upon to be a first responder,” said Clinton Foundation chief executive officer Kevin Thurm. “This commitment to action demonstrates the power of trusted non-governmental organisations and academic public health experts working together to disseminate vital knowledge and critical skills, empowering people on the ground to take action and save lives.”

You can help by subscribing to the International Medical Corps YouTube channel to view all the videos. Thanks to this continuing effort, individuals around the world will have the ability to watch a video, and save a life.