Low-quality tourniquets provided to the Ukrainian Armed Forces were never checked

Medical Forces Command did not conduct a general inspection of the tourniquets provided to the Armed Forces, which was supposed to have been conducted by 14 August, said Solomiia Bobrovska, member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee of National Security.

Source: Bobrovska on Facebook and in comments made to Ukrainska Pravda

Quote from the deputy: "Results of the meeting on 23.08.23. There was no general inspection of tourniquets for military personnel. A random inspection of tourniquets took place in the 82nd brigade of the Air Assault Troops. The inspection consisted of placing a tourniquet and a visual inspection, although this was not conducted in laboratory conditions.

Since the tourniquets did not break, the conclusion was that the tourniquets were "of good quality," do not require replacement or removal, and are suitable for use by the armed forces. Since there are no standards for quality, if they don't tear - they’re good!".

Details: Bobrovska added that at the meeting an order marked No. 7 was discovered, dated 07.01.2017, by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: "Collection of descriptions of sets of medical property", which sets out all the medical and technical requirements for the composition of first-aid kits, and which includes a requirement to check the tourniquet to a standard of "up to 12 points".

At the same time, Tetiana Ostashchenko, the commander of the Medical Forces, informed the members of the committee that these points "do not meet the requirements of today's war."

In response to a question on what Medical Forces Command was using to check first-aid kits and tourniquets, the committee heard that "there is no new document from the General Staff, and that they do not use the order from 2017."

Details: Bobrovska also added that there are still no new quality standards for tourniquets and first-aid kits for the defence forces - they will only be developed in collaboration with the Ukrainian Ministry of Health and Ministry of Defence. But why Medical Forces Command has not yet done this is unknown.

The MP reported that the committee also proposed including in their decision a clause appealing to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence regarding the incompatibility of the position held by Tetiana Ostashchenko, the head of Medical Forces Command, but 5 votes were lacking.

She emphasised that the person who was responsible for the purchase - Volodymyr Prudnikov, the head of the procurement department of the Department of Medical Supply within Medical Forces Command - has not yet been fired. According to the head of Medical Forces Command, he is either on vacation or on sick leave.

According to Bobrovska, the committee recommended:

• a mandatory audit of first-aid kits in accordance with order No. 7,
• to instruct the Chief Inspectorate of the Ministry of Defence to conduct an inventory of individual first-aid kits and tourniquets stored in warehouses and issued for supply to military units, to check their record-keeping and debiting, and to determine the need for procurement.

"There is also a proposal in the committee to refer to Glavkom regarding the situation with Medical Forces Command," Bobrovska concluded; in her comment for Ukrainska Pravda, she specified that Valerii Zaluzhnyi will be asked to report in September.

Background:

• In the summer, a scandal erupted over poor-quality tourniquets at the front. In particular, in the 82nd separate brigade of the Air Assault Troops. Hemostatic tourniquets did not work during an attempt to stop bleeding by servicemen from the 82nd separate brigade of the Air Assault Troops during combat missions.
• The scandal gained publicity on 20 July when volunteer Oksana Korchynska wrote about it on social media. Her post started a large public discussion on the problems of tactical medicine in Ukraine. 
• According to Korchynska, 50,000-60,000 Chinese tourniquets may have reached the front. The worst part is that these tourniquets had to go through Medical Forces Command - a body that, in theory, should not allow defective medical supplies such as these to reach the front.
• Medical Forces Command, in turn, stated that after this story, it had checked the tourniquets and that "the information spread in the media about malfunction of the tourniquets in the specified first-aid kits is unconfirmed."
• On 31 July, the Committee for National Security, Defence and Intelligence of the Verkhovna Rada heard Medical Forces Command’s account of the situation regarding tactical medicine and gave them two weeks to check all the first-aid kits of military personnel in Ukraine.
• In mid-August, it became known that law enforcement officers were investigating criminal proceedings regarding possible violations in the formation of first-aid kits for the Armed Forces.
• Anton Shevchuk, the head of the medical service of the 82nd separate brigade of the Air Assault Troops, who asked Medical Forces Command to replace poor-quality Chinese tourniquets, and asked volunteer Oksana Korchynska to help with this task, was given a "severe reprimand".

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