"Holding you!" project: 120,000 soldiers undergo tactical training in classrooms set up by the Foundation

From March 2023 to January 2024, the Come Back Alive Foundation for Competent Assistance to the Army deployed 27 tactical medicine classes and provided training equipment to 10 training centers of the Ukrainian Defense Forces. As of February 2024, about 120,000 servicemen had been trained there, including 2,500 combat medics.

The cost of the project is UAH 20.8 million, which the Foundation raised in partnership with Ciklum last spring.

“We launched the ‘Holding You’ initiative to set up classrooms at training grounds where basic general military training is conducted. We planned to provide eight training centers. However, we managed to provide more due to the rational distribution of funds and partner assistance – some of the training materials provided by the Foundation free of charge, namely tourniquets, bleeding simulators, bandages, etc.”, says Lyudmyla Pautets, head of the tactical medicine instructor department at the Come Back Alive Foundation.

What exactly have the Defense Forces been provided with?

• Eight military training centers received 27 classrooms under the project – tents with power and heating systems and equipment (projectors, screens, chairs, etc.), as well as simulation equipment and training supplies: tourniquets, bandages, splints, and more.
• Two more centers were provided with simulators and supplies.
• Besides, instructors of 15 military units – training centers and combat brigades – received training kits, i.e. basic sets of training tourniquets, bandages, bleeding simulators, etc. for practical training in first aid according to the TCCC ASM course.

The main goal of the project was to create conditions for quality training of soldiers, as well as to train instructors according to a single standard for teaching TCCC ASM – Tactical Medical Techniques. In the year since the start of the project, 115 instructors have been trained.

“We planned to train 96 instructors, but some of them were promoted to the level of instructor for combat medics or other positions during the project. Therefore, in total, we have trained 115 specialists in basic tactical care for all military personnel according to the TCCC ASM standard,” says Liudmyla Pautets.

Every month, about 20 thousand servicemen are trained in the classes deployed by the Foundation.

“Over the course of a year, about 240 thousand military personnel can receive tactical medicine knowledge in the training centers provided by the project. The declared need for mobilization for 2024 is half a million people. Thus, our project covers the needs for basic level training by 40 percent per year,” says Liudmyla Pautets.

The Foundation’s instructors continue to provide ongoing support to the training centers and monitor their immediate needs.

What are the plans for the future?

• professional development, in-depth training of instructors, in accordance with the standards introduced by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
• scaling up the project to the entire Security and Defense Forces;
• dividing the project into two directions: providing training centers and brigade training platoons with instructor kits for continuous training of combat units;
• assistance in increasing the capacity of training centers to deploy professional training of combat medics.

Currently, 5 classrooms out of 27 are also used for professional training of combat medics. More than 2.5 thousand people have completed the training over the past 9 months.