Victoria paramedics delivering ambulance to mobile hospital in Ukraine
Paramedics Melissa Sims and Andrew Mills are shown. (CTV News)
A pair of Victoria-based paramedics are headed to Poland to finalize the sale and delivery of an ambulance, stocked full of medical supplies, for fellow paramedics in Ukraine.
The idea came up over coffee, after seeing images of paramedics and first responders being targeted by Russian troops in Ukraine.
Advanced care paramedics Andrew Mills and Melissa Sims sprang into action, building a website and raising enough money to buy a service-ready ambulance from a private seller in Poland.
"I can’t even imagine what they’re going through," said Sims.
"To be able to provide them with an ambulance that’s going to get them from A to B without breaking down, that’s going to be able navigate the potholes in the road and get around the bombing debris is huge, because they can get to where they are needed," she said.
Mills and Sims are working with the Pirogov First Volunteer Mobile Hospital – which is on the frontlines in Ukraine – to select the right ambulance and secure the delivery.
"We’ve been showing them the ones we’ve found online," said Mills. "We’ve been working with a Polish paramedic as well who’s helped get mechanics down there to check them out and essentially this organization is going to meet us at the border."
"We go to Poland, we buy the ambulance or ambulances, fill them with the supplies we’ve got," he said, outlining the pair's plans.
"We’ve got thousands of dollars of supplies, trauma gear and medical gear right now, and then we’re going to convoy them to the border where this organization is going to meet us and take possession of them."
The pair of paramedics leave for Poland next Sunday, and say they hope to raise enough money for a second or third ambulance.
Donations to the cause can be made on their website.
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