19.03.2025.
MMA anaesthesiologist: The injured in the Kočani fire in serious condition
Military and civilian healthcare institutions in the Republic of Serbia are currently treating 30 patients who suffered serious injuries in the tragic fire in Kočani, Republic of North Macedonia.
Lt. Col. Assoc. Prof. Goran Rondović, MD, PhD, an anaesthesiologist with the Clinic for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care at the Military Medical Academy has said that 12 patients are currently being treated at military healthcare institutions - the Military Medical Academy and the Niš Military Hospital, emphasizing that they are in a serious and complex condition.- All patients admitted to the Military Medical Academy are in a serious condition. There are ten of them, six of which in the intensive care unit with severe burns and smoke inhalation injuries, and four in the Clinic for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, whose treatment continues there. Anaesthesiologists, plastic surgeons and all other specialists are involved, helping to stabilise these patients, to continue their treatment. For now, all of them are stable – said Lt. Col. Rondović.
Two patients who are being treated at the Niš Military Hospital are also in serious condition, he says, but are stable and are receiving multidisciplinary treatment, as is the case with the patients at the Military Medical Academy.
Lt. Col. Rondović emphasizes that teams of experts trained for tasks like this have participated in the evacuation.
- All doctors and nurses who have flown with me to carry out our task are ready to participate in patient transportation at any time upon order. They have all volunteered and we are ready to fly every day if necessary to bring as many patients as possible to Serbia for treatment. This is one of the most challenging types of evacuation, i.e. transport of critically injured patients. Aerial evacuation of a large group of patients is difficult to organize. We’ve had excellent cooperation with all structures in the Serbian Armed Forces - said Lt. Col. Rondović, highlighting the cooperation with the Air Force and Air Defence and the military and civilian emergency services involved in carrying out this task.
Macedonian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Timčo Mucunski, Deputy Minister of Health Jovica Andovski, and Macedonian Ambassador to Serbia Nikola Tupančeski visited the Military Medical Academy today to learn about the condition of the patients who are being treated there.
