Doctors in Ukraine told the medical journal that 10 percent of emergency medicine teams have been reconfigured to respond to chemical, biological, radiation, and nuclear risks.

Doctors in Ukraine told the medical journal that 10 percent of emergency medicine teams have been reconfigured to respond to chemical, biological, radiation, and nuclear risks

Ukraine’s health system won’t be prepared to handle major problems in the event that Russia mounts an atomic strike on the country, warns a recent Lancet research.

There would not be enough doctors, nurses, or hospital beds, according to the report, which also highlights the likely destruction of local health-care facilities.

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima destroyed 80 percent of the city’s hospitals and killed almost all its doctors and nurses.

Since February the spectre of a nuclear war has been hanging over the region and health experts are trying to figure out how it will affect the health system of Ukraine should such a catastrophe play out.

The concern over nuclear attack has grown following comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin signaling that nuclear weapons could be used to protect “parts of Ukraine.”

“No matter what measures are put in place, if a nuclear bomb is dropped, a health-care system will be in trouble,” Ruth Mitchell, Board Chair of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, told The Lancet. “[Ukraine’s] health-care system is already on its knees even before any such weapons might be used. There is no modelling anywhere to suggest anything different than it not being able to cope.”

A WHO Europe spokesperson told The Lancet that a mission to the country in September had discussed with Ukrainian health chiefs a range of public health interventions for a mass-casualty radio-nuclear hazard event.

Doctors in Ukraine told The Lancet that as per a Health Ministry mandate, 10 percent of emergency medicine teams have been reconfigured to respond to chemical, biological, radiation, and nuclear risks. These are specially equipped teams that will directly treat injured people in an affected area.

Volodymyr Vovchuk, Acting Director at the Central City Clinical Hospital, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, said that his hospital planned to set up two special units to treat people directly affected by any nuclear blast.

“In the event of a radiological disaster there will be two separate burn departments: one for surgical patients and one for therapeutic patients. The number of beds allocated will be 60 for each department, but this could change depending on need,” Vovchuk said. “Our hospital is also working with several international non-governmental organisations to provide training to hospital staff on what to do in a chemical or radiological disaster.”

The Lancet says it is unclear what size nuclear weapon might be used by Russian forces in Ukraine, but military experts have said it would likely be a so-called “tactical” nuclear weapon, which typically has a relatively low yield. But the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) says that the effects of any nuclear strike would be devastating.

A nuclear bomb is not the only potential nuclear disaster causing concern in Ukraine. The country has several nuclear power stations, including Europe’s largest in Zaporizhzhia in southeast Ukraine. Fighting around the plant, which has been occupied by Russian troops since the first weeks of the invasion, has led the International Atomic Energy Agency to repeatedly warn of the dangers of a catastrophic incident at the facility.

The consequences of such a disaster are difficult to predict accurately and would depend on several factors, including the specific damage to any nuclear plant, and its proximity to population centres. But there would be severe immediate and long-term damage to health, the report reads.