section_path: Casualties/International medical assistance
section_name: International medical assistance
paragraph_text: International medical assistance
  
  In response to the disaster, the European Union activated its Civil Protection Mechanism and coordinated air evacuation. On 16 March, Bulgaria sent an Alenia C-27J Spartan military aircraft to transport eight of the most critically wounded victims to the Pirogov Hospital in Sofia and the Military Medical Academy in Varna, while six more were transported with ambulances to Sofia and Plovdiv. The director of the Pirogov Hospital said that she expects the death toll to rise, as all the victims of the fire that they have received are in "very poor condition", suffering burns to their respiratory tracts. On 18 March, one more patient was admitted for treatment in Pirogov Hospital, and the Macedonian authorities were offered to admit 10 more people for treatment. That same day, the Bulgarian Red Cross, Pirogov Hospital and the National Center for Transfusion Hematology organised a blood donation campaign to help the injured in Bulgaria, supported by the Military Medical Academy. By 19 March, more than 600 Bulgarians had donated blood in three cities for the victims of the fire.
  
  On 16 March, Serbia sent a CASA C-295 of the Serbian Air Force to pick up 12 of the most critically injured victims, who were transported to the Military Medical Academy and the Clinical Centre of Serbia. Additionally, Serbia sent five ambulances with 14 medical personnel to assist crowded hospitals in North Macedonia. Two ambulances drove two of the most critically injured to Niš, where they were admitted to the Clinical Centre of Niš and the Niš Military Hospital, and three other ambulances drove to Belgrade, where an additional three injured were admitted to Military Medical Academy and Clinical Centre of Serbia. An anesthesiologist at the Military Medical Academy, Goran Rondović, said that both patients that they received were in critical condition but were stable. Out of 10 patients transported to the Military Medical Academy, six were in the intensive care unit and four were receiving reconstructive surgery. As of 19 March, 30 of the most critically injured are being treated in Serbian hospitals, transported both via air and ground.
  
  A Romanian Air Force C-27J Spartan aircraft, configured for medical missions, departed on 17 March from Otopeni to carry out a humanitarian mission to transport four patients diagnosed with burns from Skopje to a hospital in Vilnius, Lithuania, including Aleksandar Karadakoski, a bartender at the nightclub, who later died of his injuries. Three more victims were transported to Turkey and three to Greece. In the Netherlands, burn centers in Groningen, Beverwijk and Rotterdam committed to providing medical assistance and shelter to victims. Slovenia sent a military aircraft to transport two burn victims to the Ljubljana University Medical Centre with another two being transported to the Maribor University Medical Centre. On 17 March, a Hellenic Air Force C-130 aircraft transported three critically injured victims in intensive care to a military hospital in Athens. According to Greek Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis, three hospitals in Athens and one in Thessaloniki were put on heightened alert. That same day, three flights took place from Vogler Air Force Base to Skopje with an Austrian Air Force Medevac C-130 Hercules to hospitals in Graz and Vienna.
  
  Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković announced on 17 March that two Croatian Army helicopters would transport four of the wounded on 19 March to Croatia for treatment. On 17 March, Czechia announced the deployment of ten military medical personnel from the Central Military Hospital to North Macedonia after North Macedonia requested assistance. On 18 March, Poland announced that it would provide care for two injured people at the Eastern Center for Burn Treatment and Reconstructive Surgery in Łęczna, with the transport of patients carried out by the Polish Medical Air Rescue. Belgium deployed its Belgian First Aid and Support team (B-FAST) to provide emergency medical aid to the victims of the fire on 19 March, taking four patients. On 20 March, an additional three victims of the fire were airlifted to the Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital in Istanbul. On 20 March, Spain announced that it would treat seven of the victims in Madrid, with five being transported to Hospital Universitario La Paz and two going to the University Hospital of Getafe. On the same day, the Norwegian Armed Forces Joint Medical Services transported seven patients to Spain for hospital treatment in a plane requisitioned from Scandinavian Airlines.