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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Ukraine's ambulance crews, many of them volunteers, put their lives on the line
The crews are working on the front lines to save soldiers wounded by Russian forces. For medics who are volunteers with little training, the danger and emotional costs are high.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Ukrainians say hundreds of their soldiers are wounded every day fighting the Russians. They're cared for and carried from the frontlines by ambulance crews made up, in many cases, of volunteers. NPR's Brian Mann reports.
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE2: In the middle of the night, an American medic from California guides a stretcher through a darkened military hospital in Kryvyi Rih, a city near the front lines in southern Ukraine.
UNIDENTIFIED MEDIC: All right, turn.
MANN: I'm the patient on the stretcher. I broke my leg while reporting on the war. Using a headlamp, the medic loads me into the back of his ambulance, which is operated by an international nonprofit group called Save Our Allies. This medic, who served in the U.S. military before volunteering here, agrees to talk with me about his experience in Ukraine on the condition NPR not use his name.
UNIDENTIFIED MEDIC: Everybody's in danger here. It's Russian roulette with indirect or rockets. I mean, there's really no safe space.
MANN: This kind of work is dangerous. This region of Ukraine is hit regularly with cruise missiles and rockets. He says there's also an emotional cost. Day after day, medics care for soldiers and civilians3 wounded in the most brutal4 fighting Europe has seen in decades.
UNIDENTIFIED MEDIC: And it's a very emotional experience, where you see World War I-style, you know, trench5 living. And you talk to guys that have been there since the winter. And they're not allowed to leave their trench to go see their family.
MANN: This is a story I hear over and over talking with ambulance crews. The men and women who do this work are devoted6 to their mission. Everyone NPR spoke7 to is a volunteer. But they say it's taking a toll8 on their mental health. Back in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, an ambulance driver named Anatolii (ph) opens a big garage door. Like the others interviewed for this story, he said using his full name could heighten his risk or put family members in danger. Anatolii was an artist and sound designer before the war. He was developing this warehouse9 into a performance space. Now it's packed with boxes of bandages and medications and other humanitarian10 supplies.
ANATOLII: People from all over the world sending us medical for people in the war.
MANN: Anatolii is just back from working on an ambulance team in Donetsk. He says the intense fighting, the pace of injuries and death changed him, left him feeling emotionless.
ANATOLII: I didn't know. Something was broken in me. It was really a question for me - what is going on with me? - trying to investigate what is in my head. But I hope that it's nothing really bad, you know, I'm not crazy (laughter).
MANN: The medics NPR interviewed all shared some version of this concern, that they're becoming hardened to the suffering. This is Ivan (ph), who volunteers with an ambulance crew attached to a Ukrainian military unit.
IVAN: It certainly is tough.
MANN: Ivan was a software designer during peacetime. He first began volunteering on ambulances in 2014 when Russia first invaded Ukraine. He, too, would only share his first name. Ivan says he keeps his morale11 up by believing in the mission, trying to save as many lives as possible and helping12 fight a war he views as a kind of crusade.
IVAN: This is a big part of my mental well-being13. I cannot ask for more than such an opportunity to defend my country and to fight for freedom.
MANN: The ambulance driver from California also told NPR he believes in this cause. And he says it helps that most of these medical workers and drivers are volunteers.
UNIDENTIFIED MEDIC: I think it's better than it normally would be. The fact that people are actually choosing to be here is different than being sent here.
MANN: The need for ambulance crews and medics is expected to rise in the coming weeks as Ukrainian troops in the south push toward the Russian-occupied city of Kherson.
Brian Mann, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF AK AND TIM SCHAUFERT'S "TIDES")
1 transcript | |
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
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2 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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3 civilians | |
平民,百姓( civilian的名词复数 ); 老百姓 | |
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4 brutal | |
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的 | |
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5 trench | |
n./v.(挖)沟,(挖)战壕 | |
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6 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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7 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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8 toll | |
n.过路(桥)费;损失,伤亡人数;v.敲(钟) | |
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9 warehouse | |
n.仓库;vt.存入仓库 | |
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10 humanitarian | |
n.人道主义者,博爱者,基督凡人论者 | |
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11 morale | |
n.道德准则,士气,斗志 | |
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12 helping | |
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的 | |
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13 well-being | |
n.安康,安乐,幸福 | |
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