Orthodox Faithful Work with Military Instructors to Learn First Aid Techniques

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Imagine you find yourself in combat, or perhaps you have already experienced this or something like it in your life. A bullet whizzes past your skull, missing you by mere inches. Your ears ring from the mortar that exploded just a bit too close to you. Half deaf, you try to make sense of the orders from your superiors, and keep up with your buddies. * Crack Crack Crack * The enemy rifles seem to follow your every move. And then it happens; you feel like you’ve just been hit with a sledgehammer. You’re on the ground. It feels like someone stuck a searing poker in your arm, leg, or God forbid, somewhere in your center mass. You’re bleeding. You hear a voice cry next to you, “MEDIC!” That’s your buddy who saw you get hit. And then you see him, the Medic. And you are even more relieved to see that he is the unit chaplain, who is equipped not only to heal your broken body, but also your soul.

This is not imagination but reality for today’s seminarians in Russia. Due to the Special Military Operation, tomorrow’s priests are training to moonlight as today’s combat medics. It is not uncommon in Orthodox countries to find men of the cloth on the battlefield with their comrades, or blessing the soldiers, tanks, and weapons that will defend the country from the enemy. A famous Greek saint, Paisios of Mount Athos, even served in the Greek Civil War as a radio operator before he became a monk.

Students at the Don Theological Seminary are busily putting their spiritual values of selfless love and care for one’s brother into practice in a very concrete way, completing training in various aspects of first aid such as first aid for the wounded and medical equipment for its provision, first aid for bone fractures and traumatic shock, aid in case of epilepsy attacks, emergency resuscitation measures, and others. They also completed practical exercises devoted to developing skills in stopping external bleeding, applying bandages, splints, tourniquets, and providing first aid for injuries and wounds to the chest, head, and spine. They trained at the local District Military Hospital and received state issued certificates upon the successful completion of the course. This is due primarily to the proximity of Rostov-on-Don to the fighting, and the seminarians have been happy to do their part throughout the Special Military Operation. Now, these future Priests can help Russia’s wounded fighting men and those unfortunate civilians caught in the crossfire, or too often, used as human shields by Ukrainian forces, both body and soul.

Not to be left behind, civilians and doctors from Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital of St. Alexy have also begun tactical medicine training classes. Once trained, volunteers will help in hospitals in Moscow and the Moscow region, as well as work in shifts in Mariupol and Rostov-on-Don where there is great need.

It is a reminder that in times of trouble, Russia always finds help in the grass-roots efforts of its generous and self-sacrificial people, who always rise up at the right time to help and defend the Fatherland.

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