Sussex ambulance service helps Ukrainian hospitals
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) is sending enough vital medical equipment to maintain a Ukrainian field hospital for up to two weeks.
A team of staff have volunteered their time over recent weeks to co-ordinate a collection of decommissioned supplies and equipment from across bases in Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Berkshire. The equipment includes traction splints, neck collars, back boards, tourniquets, stretchers, blankets, blast and field dressings, decompression needles, chest seals, bandages, haemostatic agents to stop bleeding, extrication devices and cannulas.
They have already seen seven heavy goods vehicles packed with clothing, food and drinks, blankets, toiletries, baby products, first aid equipment and medicines reach Ukraine, with the next three loads on its way after leaving on Friday and Saturday (April 1-2).
Kate Ellis, a paramedic team leader in Oxfordshire who has been helping to coordinate the SCAS response, said: “The response we have seen throughout the organisation has been incredible from the very start and we have now ramped it up further with the donation of medical supplies and equipment which we know are so desperately needed in the conflict zones.
“This will help to ensure people can receive care for up to 24 hours while they await emergency surgery in hospital, meaning there is the potential for this work to help save hundreds, if not thousands, of lives. We estimate our volume of supplies will be able to supply one field hospital for up to two weeks and some of the equipment – such as the long boards and extrication devices – is of course reusable.”
Will Hancock, CEO of SCAS, said: “We are all extremely proud of this work to support those most in need. The resolve everyone has shown to not only keep delivering in the day job after such a tough time of late but also drive forward with this outstanding voluntary programme is truly amazing.”