"Most often it's high blood pressure": mobile brigades of the Red Cross work in Poltava Oblast

Over the course of nine months of work, approximately 5,500 people have turned to the mobile medical teams of the Red Cross in Poltava, Ukraine. The majority of these requests are related to cardiovascular diseases. This information was shared by Daria Shenker, the coordinator of the Red Cross mobile teams in Poltava, with Sushpilne.

The mobile medical teams project in Poltava has been active since August 2022. During this time, around 5,500 individuals have sought medical assistance. There are a total of four such teams in the region.

"A team consists of an experienced family doctor, two nurses, a driver, and is equipped with transportation – a modern ambulance with all the necessary equipment, as well as free medications. According to doctors' feedback and reports, 50% of all requests are related to cardiovascular diseases, most commonly high blood pressure. We also receive cases with high blood glucose levels," says Daria Shenker, the coordinator of the Red Cross mobile teams in Poltava.

"We can conduct a general patient examination here, measure saturation, check blood pressure, perform an electrocardiogram, general blood analysis, and cholesterol level assessment. We have over 30 types of medications available, from hypertension medications to pain relievers, and for diabetic patients, you can receive free medication for five days," says Victoria Starodub, a family doctor in the mobile Red Cross team.

"My blood pressure is high, and I had my blood sugar tested. It's slightly elevated. The doctor gave me a bunch of pills and recommended injections. They also did an electrocardiogram," says Natalia Derkach, a resident of the village of Holovach.

The Red Cross mobile medical teams were created to relieve the workload of family doctors in remote areas, serving both internally displaced persons and local populations. "Whether it's internally displaced individuals or the local population, there's a high demand for primary care doctors here in the Poltava region. There are many IDPs (internally displaced persons) here, so the workload on primary care doctors is very high. Mobile medical teams help alleviate this burden in areas with poor transportation connections," says Daria Shenker, the coordinator of the Red Cross mobile teams in Poltava.

Over a month, more than a thousand people seek medical attention from the doctors in these mobile teams.