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Dr. Joshua Rempell, a Cooper University Health Care emergency medicine physician, recently returned from a two-week trip to Ukraine to provide trauma and mass casualty training to the community. 

In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, leaving its citizens to cope in a war-torn nation. The trip, organized by the International Medical Corps and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, provided community members with skills needed to recover, become self-reliant and learn how to be first responders. 

According to a Jan. 3 announcement from the Camden-based health care provider, Rempell was part of a 12-person team of physicians, paramedics and nurses who trained more than 200 people, including medical personnel, first responders as well as members of the community. 

“The response was amazing. What struck me was the resilience of the people of Ukraine who have been impacted by the war for almost a year. They eagerly signed up for the training while at the same time determined to live their lives as normally as possible,” Rempell said in a statement. 

He noted that the group experienced what life was like in Ukraine, including navigating heavy checkpoints and the sounds of bombing and sirens. Rempell said some classes even took place in bomb shelters as a cautionary measure. 

“The Ukrainians were very welcoming and eager for any medical knowledge they could get to help in the constant trauma they were experiencing. People from all walks of life willingly volunteered for the training [so] they would be prepared to use their new skills if the situation presented itself,” Rempell added. 

Providing training around the world isn’t new to the Cooper team. Several staff members recently spent a week in Tanzania to provide advanced medical education at the Eastern Africa nation’s largest hospital.