GoPro footage released by a combat medic with the Russian 74th Brigade captures the bleak images of a mass casualty evacuation from front-line Russian positions located near Tors'ke in the Donetsk region.

Medical evacuations on both the Ukrainian and Russian side of this conflict have been something we've been watching closely since the start of this conflict. Throughout the GWoT, and even in Russia's time conducting direct combat operations in Syria, most modern warfare has been accented by relatively quick medical evacuation procedures due to one side having absolute air dominance and the ability to maneuver rotary wing aircraft anywhere in the battle space with relative ease.

As a result of this, a majority of modern battlefield medicine has revolved around simply getting the casualty off of the X and stabilizing them so that they could be moved to a higher echelon of surgical care. What we're learning from the war in Ukraine is quite the opposite of this however. Here, where the airspace is highly contested and rotary wing aircraft have little front-line capabilities forward of their own troops, we're finding that these mass casualty ground medevacs are taking a long time to occur, so the key to success lies within the individual medics ability to conduct triage for an extended period of time.

The modern medic in a near peer fight needs to do more than stop the bleeding and clear the airways. Here, they need to be damn near capable of conducting field surgeries within 100 meters of where the casualty was taken, because it may be 24 to 48 hours before a ground medevac can be pushed to their position to pick up the wounded. Until that ground medevac arrives, the only form of triage available to the troops on the front-lines are their field medics.

About the Author

Josh Brooks

Josh is an American writer and former USMC machine gunner with eight years of experience in ground combat arms throughout the GWOT. He is currently based in Texas and specializes in combat footage analysis and digital marketing.Follow Josh at OfficialJoshBrooks.com