New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and First Lady commend UNITED SIKHS relief efforts in war-torn Ukraine

New York (USA) :  Phil Murphy, governor of New Jersey in the United States, and his wife, Tammy, the first lady, joined the UNITED SIKHS team at the border between Ukraine and Poland to observe the tactical medical programme built specifically for this situation.

On 17 February 2023, the couple made an official trip to the western Ukrainian region of Lviv Oblast, where they met with the region’s governor, Maksym Kozytskyy, the mayor of Shehyni, Oksana Pavusko, and the governor’s chief of staff, Roman Kynazev. Afterwards, they met up with the rest of the UNITED SIKHS team at the Polish-Ukrainian border. This group included UNITED SIKHS President Balwant Singh, Director Hardayal Singh, and Youth Volunteer Coordinators Prabhleen Kaur, Daler Kaur, and Jasleen Kaur. Here, they saw UNITED SIKHS Senior Officer and medical operations trainer Norman Bart give a live presentation of the organization’s tactical medical programme for civilians. The Governor and First Lady of New Jersey both gave enthusiastic endorsements of this groundbreaking emergency medical training (EMT) programme. They assisted the UNITED SIKHS team in delivering supplies to those in need, including refugees, internally displaced people, and orphans.

A year has passed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which caused unfathomable pain and widespread destruction. From the bleakness of this developing tragedy, Phil Murphy has pointed to the actions of UNITED SIKHS as a shining example of hope. “The innovative tactical medical programme is also noteworthy. He stressed that the program’s potential to save countless lives in severe conflict zones through teaching ordinary individuals.

“Everything we do at UNITED SIKHS is inspired by the principle of acknowledging the complete human race as one,” Hardyal Singh said. From the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, our volunteer groups have been there to help those in need by transporting them to safety, delivering aid, constructing bomb shelters, and so on. Singh emphasised that their emergency medical training programme was the latest and most innovative effort to save as many lives as possible in conflict zones without access to emergency treatment.

Given the escalating conflict, UNITED SIKHS, in November 2022, launched a first-ever ‘train-the-trainer’ program in which 50 Ukrainian civilians were given tactical medical training. The program was designed with the idea of enabling civilians to offer basic treatment to other civilian victims of war, increasing their odds of survival in hostile environments. The training program includes – but is not restricted to – arranging the right medical equipment, treating fractures and wounds, evacuating the injured, and offering protection against hypothermia, among others.

As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine touches the one-year mark, the conflict shows no signs of abating. With at least 8,000 non-combatants confirmed killed, 13,300 injured, and millions displaced since the outset of the war, Ukraine may well be in the throes of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.