Three weeks ago, we wrote to give you an update on our activities and on how your generous donations were used. Since then, we completed our second trip to Ukraine and delivered a van and more supplies to a unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Your support made this possible. Thank you very much!
The Mercedes van will be used as a mobile command and/or aid station.
Again, we applied 100% of your donations to the purchase of the vehicle and supplies and covered our own travel expenses and fuel out of our own pockets.
The gratitude of the soldiers is immense. They told us again and again how hard it is to secure vehicles and how rare specialized trauma supplies are. One item we delivered is called a “junctional tourniquet.” None of us had ever heard of these until our contact told us about them. A foreign volunteer medic wrote to us about what this meant for him and for wounded soldiers:
“In medicine, whether in hospitals, in ambulances or in the field of combat…. We as medical personnel, have to carry tools to deal with every eventuality. In a hospital this is measurably easier than in the back of some rusty L200 in the middle of Bakhmut… But nevertheless, we have to try our best to carry all of the tools we may need during life-saving medical intervention. SAM Junctional tourniquets are a great example of one of these necessities. In a war zone dominated by artillery, rockets, and mortars, full-limb amputations are not uncommon. And probably the only appropriate tool to deal with such injuries is a junctional tourniquet. They are extremely expensive… Difficult to use…. But when you find yourself in the scenario mentioned… They are realistically the only option for anyone less medically qualified than a surgeon…They are highly effective at cutting off blood flow even in the event of full-limb amputations, and I wouldn’t leave base without one in this war zone.”
Junctional tourniquets cost over €500 each and are only available from specialized suppliers. With your support, we were able to buy the four tourniquets requested. The battalion doctor told us that their unit would be the envy of all others in the area, who had none.
The soldiers and civilians we talked to not only thanked us for the supplies but were especially grateful for people coming personally to Ukraine, showing that people abroad know what is happening and are thinking about and supporting them.
We will return to Ukraine as soon as we possibly can, and that means raising more money for vehicles and supplies. Please let your friends and other interested people know what we are doing.
Yours,
Annette, David, Markus, and Michael
