美国国家公共电台 NPR--Ukraine's ambulance crews, many of them volunteers, put their lives on the line

Ukraine's ambulance crews, many of them volunteers, put their lives on the line

Transcript¹

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

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

4 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

5 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

6 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

9 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

10 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

11 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

12 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

13 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。