Ukraine’s medical forces to restock thousands of first aid kits for soldiers

Deputy Defense Minister Natalia Kalmykova and the Leleka Foundation team, inspected the medical equipment and assessed the condition and availability of first aid kits and backpacks for combat medics.

In 2023, the lawmaker Solomiia Bobrovska of the opposition party Voice launched an examination of military medical supplies due to social media reports about the poor quality of tourniquets provided to Ukrainian troops.

Currently, the warehouses store about ten types of first aid kits, most of which were donated by charities. Yet, they are equipped differently, and their components differ in quality.

"Now we are faced with the task of re-equipping the existing first aid kits so that they can be used in the military. There are enough quality components for this," Kalmykova said. 

The Deputy Minister noted that this is a temporary solution.

"In the future, we will be focused on purchasing high-quality medical equipment in accordance with NATO standards. After all, we are talking about the most valuable thing – the lives and health of the military." 

The Medical Forces Command did not purchase any first aid kits this year and those supplied were not checked.

The lawmaker said that Ukraine has not yet developed quality standards according to which the kits can be properly inspected.

Yehor Cherniev, the head of the committee, tasked the Medical Forces Command with reviewing all first-aid kits and replacing all the poor-quality components within two weeks.