Dialogue between first aid service providers and injured combatants on the frontline: developing a communicative training program

Abstract

Background. Communicative studies in professional discourse are highly effective when applied through practical workshops and training sessions. Modern education programs must incorporate a communicative component when developing professional training curricula. Researchers, drawing from over 70 years of focused efforts to alleviate the traumatic experiences of military conflicts, have compiled valuable materials from the
works of linguists, psychotherapists, military medics, and chaplains. This compilation forms the basis for modeling professional dialogues with traumatized combatants and preventing misunderstandings of their emotional states.
M e t h o d s. The analysis of global practices in training first aid services and combatants shows that military training should include exercises in using emotional language in first aid dialogues. The communicative training was developed using methods such as abstraction and logical
generalization, surveys, reports, personal interviews, and testimonies from combat participants. Empirical data collection was ensured through observation and conversational analysis, based on the concepts of J. Heritage and S. Clayman.
Results. Data from 14 combatants who are or were in the combat zone during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine from March 2022 to March 2024, compared with data from previous research since 2015, show that accurate interpretation of emotional language is crucial for successful professional dialogue. By identifying the main types of emotions and states characteristic of combatants at the moment of trauma, the authors identified three types of first professional aid dialogues: algorithmization, refocusing, and facilitation. A communication training program was designed for these dialogues, including stages of analyzing the communicative situation and emotional signals experienced by the affected person, selecting language units, constructing responses, testing the dialogue, and reflecting on the process.
Conclusions. The research presented in this article recommends organizing communicative training, particularly in military academies in Ukraine. The training plan provides an educational foundation for developing dialogical skills in military personnel, such as tracking and expressing emotional reactions, building trust, eliciting positive emotional responses from the interlocutor, and using linguistic techniques to establish emotional
interaction with traumatized combatants and encourage their participation in the dialogue.