International donors provide mobile ventilator for wounded Ukrainian troops
Ukrainian Freedom Fund has received significant support from Ukrainian diaspora communities globally
Doctors at Kyiv’s military hospital have this week begun working with a new portable ventilator which will help save lives and aid the recovery of wounded Ukrainian troops.
The American-made Eagle II critical care ventilator was purchased for the hospital by the volunteer Ukrainian Freedom Fund, an international initiative which supports the Ukrainian military and Ukrainians displaced by the conflict via international fundraising efforts.
Doctor Volodymyr Melnyk explains that the main advantage of the new ventilator is that it is mobile and can be used while transporting patients, with a far longer battery life than existing models. Dr. Melnyk says international aid of this nature has played a key role in helping Ukraine’s health service to provide quality care for those injured in the east Ukraine conflict.
Dr. Volodymyr Melnyk, Intensive Therapy Clinic, Kyiv Military Hospital: “Would we have been able to manage with our existing medical establishment? Yes we would, but the treatment would not have been of such high quality. We require lots of very expensive medicines and equipment, and it is unlikely we’d have been able to meet these needs so quickly. So we are very grateful to Ukrainian volunteers and international donors. They really help us.”
Alina Dudka of the Ukrainian Freedom Fund told Ukraine Today that the ventilator purchase was possible thanks to private donor contributions from across the globe.
Alina Dudka, Spokesperson, Ukraine Freedom Fund: “We collect donations from all over the world, cooperating with both foreign and Ukrainian donors. The most active donors are members of the Ukrainian diaspora in America, Canada, and Australia and other countries.”
Dudka says her organisation’s fundraising work continues, with aid efforts focusing on both hospitals and private individuals affected by the conflict.