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Comparative Study
. 2024 Oct:210:114271.
doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2024.114271. Epub 2024 Aug 8.

Retrospective comparative analysis of two medical evacuation systems for Ukrainian patients affected by war

Alexandra Mueller  1 , Marta Salek  2 , Aleksandra Oszer  3 , Dmitry Evseev  2 , Taisiya Yakimkova  2 , Marcin Wlodarski  4 , Anna Vinitsky  5 , Roman Kizyma  6 , Mikhail Pogorelyy  7 , Maria Zuber  8 , Juan Escalante  8 , Elzbieta Lipska  9 , Wojciech Fendler  10 , Zuzanna Nowicka  10 , Adam Szyszka  11 , Arman Kacharian  12 , Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo  2 , Paul H Wise  13 , Asya Agulnik  2 , Wojciech Mlynarski  3 ; SAFER Ukraine collaborative
Collaborators, Affiliations
Free article
Comparative Study

Retrospective comparative analysis of two medical evacuation systems for Ukrainian patients affected by war

Alexandra Mueller et al. Eur J Cancer. 2024 Oct.
Free article

Abstract

Introduction: Coordinated medical evacuations represent an important strategy for emergency response when healthcare systems are impaired by armed conflict, particularly for patients diagnosed with life-threatening conditions such as cancer. In this study, we compare the experiences of two parallel medical evacuation systems developed to meet the medical needs of Ukrainians affected by war.

Methods: This retrospective study compared outcomes of two medical evacuation systems, developed by the European Union Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) and Supporting Action for Emergency Response in Ukraine (SAFER Ukraine) collaborative, in the first 10 months after the war's intensification in Ukraine (February 24 to December 21, 2022). Each groups' respective registries served as data sources. Patient demographics and allocation data were summarized descriptively. Median time for patient referral were analyzed statistically.

Results: The ERCC pathway evacuated 1385 patients (median age: 36 [0 - 85] years) to 16 European countries; 78.7 % (n = 1091) suffered from trauma-related injuries and 13.4 % (n = 185) from cancer. SAFER Ukraine evacuated 550 patients (median age: 9 [0 - 22] years) to 14 European and North American countries; 97.1 % (n = 534) were children diagnosed with cancer or blood disorders. The median evacuation time for the SAFER Ukraine cohort was shorter than the ERCC cohort (p < 0.001), though comparable (six versus seven days).

Conclusion: The ERCC and SAFER Ukraine collaborative successfully developed medical evacuation pathways to meet the needs of Ukrainian patients impacted by war. System comparison provides opportunity to identify strategies for parallel system harmonization and a pragmatic example of how to anticipate support of these patients in future armed conflicts.

Keywords: Adult; Armed conflicts; Child; Chronic disease; Delivery of health care; Hematology; Neoplasm; Triage; Ukraine.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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