'People are going to die': Ottawa nurse in Ukraine pleads for more medical supplies
Laura Orsatti has been providing care at Kyiv children's hospital during war
A Canadian nurse in the middle of Russia's war in Ukraine fears another attack in Kyiv could mean her hospital runs out of medical supplies and resources.
"I've seen the bombs go off and then I see [patients] arrive," Laura Orsatti told CBC late last week from the Ukrainian capital.
"I've seen the lights, the missiles. You hear them all the time. You hear the shelling."
Attacks have battered cities and villages across large parts of Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in late February.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said thousands of people have been killed so far, including 108 children.
The United Nations, meanwhile, has confirmed 902 civilian deaths in the war but concedes the actual toll is likely much higher. It says nearly 3.4 million people have fled Ukraine.
WATCH | Millions more have been displaced, says the UN:
'We don't have the resources'
Patients are coming in and often have two or more severe injuries, said Orsatti, who is originally from Ottawa.
"Just open wounds everywhere. Sometimes [the doctors] can save them. Sometimes it's just too late," she said.
The hospital only has three oxygen tanks, Orsatti said, and three defibrillators — none of which are designed for children. Another major attack in the area could overwhelm the facility, she said.
"We don't have the resources to withstand that," she warned. "And then more people are going to die … That's what I'm scared of."
Hospital wasn't even supposed to be open
A nurse since 2015, Orsatti has worked across Canada. When she heard about the Russian invasion, she said she knew she had to do something. She wanted to fight for their democratic rights by helping their wounded.
She arrived in Ukraine March 12 and is now working at a children's hospital in Kyiv. The facility wasn't supposed to open until the summer but because of the war, Orsatti said they're taking patients now.
"I'm here to do my job and I'm here to help," she said.
Still, the hospital feels unsafe, with Orsatti noting she recently found bullet holes in one of the windows.
"What if they just keep bombing us?" said Orsatti. "There won't be a hospital."
While speaking to CBC via Zoom, a message was broadcast over the hospital's PA system. Orsatti said it warned that Russian airplanes were flying overhead.
That meant they had to take patients down to the bunker.
"We have to go," she said, bringing the interview to an abrupt end. CBC reconnected with Orsatti a few hours later once the immediate danger had passed.
'Clearly a humanitarian crisis'
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 43 hospitals and health facilities in Ukraine have come under attack, with 12 people dead and 34 others injured.
"These numbers are probably higher as we go through the verification process," said Tarik Jašarević, a WHO spokesperson currently working out of Lviv in western Ukraine.
He said eastern Ukrainian cities have been hit hardest, with about 1,000 health-care facilities that have either been taken over or are stranded in the vicinity of the combat line.
Jašarević said WHO has brought in around 100 metric tons of medical supplies from Poland, dispatched to cities such as Kharkiv, Dnipro, Poltava and Kyiv.
Unfortunately, Jašarević said they have been able to access only some cities, because of the constant attacks.
"In places like Mariupol that [are] under constant shelling, we have not been able to provide medical assistance. Same for Sumy. Same thing for Kherson. So there are pockets that are hard to reach and to which we still don't have access," he said.
"This is clearly a humanitarian crisis."
Infectious diseases could surge
Like other countries, Ukraine is coming out of two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jašarević said vaccination coverage is not very high, with only around 35 per cent of Ukrainians fully vaccinated.
"So it's very difficult to imagine that people will really focus on trying to risk death, trying to avoid the risk of further transmission, wearing masks, keeping physical distance. All these things are very difficult right now, so we can expect to increase the transmission," said Jašarević.
Apart from COVID-19, Ukrainians are facing a range of health risks right now from HIV to tuberculosis.
"People who are on the move cannot simply receive [the] medical care they need," said Jašarević. "This is why when we bring medical supplies, we also make sure [there is] insulin for people, for diabetes, hypertension."
With files from Spencer Van Dyk