Some 149 Ukrainians sent abroad for burn treatment over 3.5 years of Medevac Ukraine Program

Over 3.5 years of operation of the Medevac Ukraine medical evacuation program, 6,290 Ukrainians, primarily servicemen and veterans, have used the program, with 149 Ukrainians sent abroad specifically for burn treatment.

As reported by the Ministry of Health, in early January a 16-year-old patient with burns covering 75% of her body from Kyiv was evacuated for treatment to a clinic in Cologne. This evacuation was the fastest in the program's history: just over 48 hours passed from the moment of injury to the patient's arrival at the clinic in Germany.

"On the evening of January 2 in Kyiv, a 16-year-old girl fell into a pit filled with hot water that had formed as a result of a rupture in a heating pipeline. An emergency medical team delivered the child to the emergency department of Kyiv City Children's Clinical Hospital No. 1 in extremely critical condition. Ukrainian doctors initiated the process of evacuating the child abroad. At the same time, there were concerns that following the tragedy on January 1 in Switzerland, burn centers in Germany and Switzerland might be overwhelmed. However, already on the morning of January 3, the clinic in Cologne confirmed its readiness to accept the patient for treatment," the Ministry of Health reported.

In addition, the ministry recalled that in 2023, two boys who suffered flame burns covering more than 85% of their total body surface area each as a result of a petroleum product spill into a river in Ivano-Frankivsk region were also evacuated in extremely critical condition for treatment to Cologne. Today, the children are still undergoing rehabilitation, but most importantly, they are alive.

Overall, during 2024–2025, the Cologne clinic treated and gave a chance at life to five children from Ukraine with severe burns.