Knoxville doctor back from helping in Ukraine war

He received a phone call on a Thursday while in Knoxville and by Friday, he was flying out of JFK Airport, headed to a war zone.

Methodist Medical Center anesthesiologist Dr. Russ Frazier, 54, recently returned from spending 15 days in western Ukraine, offering medical treatment and tactical medicine training to nearly 500 Ukrainians affected by the Russian invasion.

He said he had no hesitation when asked to join a team of about 10 doctors with Global Surgical Medical Support Group, an organization that provides care, training and education in austere environments.

“I’ve always had the mindset: I hope someone would come for me if I were in the same situation. So I sort of live my life that way,” Frazier told the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Frazier and the team weren’t clear if they’d be treating patients or performing surgeries. But he immediately shifted to training mode after he arrived in Ukraine and started assessing the situation. He knew he could help by focusing on tactical combat casualty care training, life-saving techniques developed by the U.S. Department of Defense Health Agency used to treat trauma cases on the battlefield.

The mission of Global Surgical Medical Support Group is to train and educate. And Frazier said that by the time the team left, the hundreds of Ukrainians it trained were not only equipped with tactical combat casualty care but were “100% self-sustaining” and even able to train others.

For Frazier, it was the spirit and patriotism of the Ukrainian people that struck him most.

“Yes, I was going to a country at war. But it was inspiring and a breath of fresh air to see every citizen pulling together, doing what needed to be done to defend their land,” he said.

“Their attitude and spirit was like a shot of adrenaline in the arm,” Frazier added. “They are steadfast in their beliefs of defending their country. I never got the impression that giving up would ever be considered.”

From his perspective, what Ukrainians need is medical equipment. Frazier said Knoxvillians and East Tennessee residents can help by donating to organizations that fill those needs, like Global Surgical Medical Support Group at www.gsmsg.org.

Frazier returned home Saturday to praise and media attention, which he was “befuddled” by.

“I’ve never been one to like [being] the center of attention,” Frazier noted. “I just went and did a job. … That’s all I did. I didn’t do anything extraordinary. I didn’t do anything that thousands of other people would be willing to do.”

Another medical team is serving in Ukraine right now, but Frazier said he’s prepared to answer the call once again.