By Leila Merrill
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Capt. Dan Freiberg with the Goodyear Fire Department recently returned from a trip to Ukraine where he worked with paramedics and doctors to find and treat internally displaced people for physical and mental medical ailments.
Freiberg volunteers with Team Rubicon, a nonprofit organization that utilizes the skills and experience of military veterans and first responders to assist in humanitarian efforts around the world. Freiberg worked with the mayor of a city in Ukraine to find people and get them from camps to a Team Rubicon medical facility, according to a news release from the city.
During his three weeks in Ukraine, Freiberg spent hours in bomb shelters as Russian missiles struck and air raid sirens sounded.
Freiberg shared an observation about the Ukrainians he met.
“What I noticed about the Ukrainians is everyone’s trying to do something to help protect their country,” he said. “Of course, as humanitarians, we’re neutral, we’re non-biased, and we’re there to serve everybody and anybody. But certainly, the spirit of the Ukrainian people was very obvious.”
Freiberg has served with the Goodyear Fire Department since 2007 and has been on nine international trips with Team Rubicon.
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