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Transcript/ScriptUSAGM Share
((TITLE: TV – Medical Kits for Ukraine – Bakalets
HEAD: Volunteers in Washington Assemble 5000 Medi-Kits For Ukraine
PUBLISHED AT: 03/16/2022 at 8:50 am
BYLINE: Lesia Bakalets
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Washington
SCRIPT EDITORS: KE(1st); MPage
VIDEOGRAPHER:
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA & News Agencies TBA
PLATFORMS: TV only
TRT: 2:57
VID APPROVED BY: KE
TYPE: TVPKG
UPDATE: Zoom interviews cleared for use))
((INTRO:))
[[Ukrainian fighters in the country are desperately in need of emergency medical kits. And that’s where this group of volunteers from Virginia stepped in. Lesia Bakalets has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.]]
((NARRATION))
These Ukrainian volunteers in the Washington DC area have been very busy assembling medical kits to help people in their home country.
((Sasha Kordiiaka, Volunteer)) ((IN UKRAINIAN))
“There are bandages here, tourniquets, surgical corsets, special scissors…”
((NARRATION))
Their work resembles a conveyer belt. A Ukrainian charity foundation called ‘United Help Ukraine’ is behind this volunteer effort. All in all, 50 volunteers are working here.
((Mariia Surdu, Volunteer)) ((IN UKRAINIAN))
“The scissors go into this little pocket, here we put a marker, compression bandaging goes here, then add the tapes… After we’re done with the kit it goes further to Mila.”
((Mila Umakhanova, Volunteer)) ((IN UKRAINIAN))
“I’m a supervisor, I check to make sure everything is in place and in order, according to instructions. Then my colleague and I put the kits into boxes.”
((NARRATION))
The volunteers have timed the packing process. They know exactly how much time they need to put together one medi-kit.
((Vlad Ovchynnikov, Volunteer)) ((IN UKRAINIAN))
“I was filling the kit with various components, and my wife times me. We played with the order a little to see what the most efficient way to pack them would be – and this prep work helped a lot!”
((Vlad Ovchynnikov, Volunteer)) ((IN UKRAINIAN))
“We ended up with about 90 seconds per kit.”
((NARRATION))
One of the most important things in the medical kit is a tourniquet, it is used to stop the bleeding in the limbs.
((Mariia Surdu, Volunteer)) ((IN UKRAINIAN))
“You position it, tighten it and twist it. And then on top of the tourniquet you write when it was applied.”
((NARRATION))
Medi-kits like this one help soldiers survive while they wait for medical professionals. As volunteers work round the clock, they talk about relatives and close friends who are still in Ukraine.
((Olga Mikkele, Volunteer)) ((IN UKRAINIAN))
“I feel guilty because there’s not much I can do to help, but we’re doing whatever we can.All the problems I had before the war – I don’t have them anymore. Because none of them matter compared to what my friends and relatives are going through there.”
((NARRATION))
Volunteers start working early in the morning; there are three shifts, four hours each. Anyone willing to help can register online through social networks.
Once the first 5000 medi-kits are packed, they start their long journey to Ukraine.
((Roxolana Wynar, Representative, United Help Ukraine)) ((IN UKRAINIAN))
“From Delaware the boxes go to Poland, which is our transit zone. Then they get sent to Lviv, and then finally to Kyiv.”
((NARRATION))
Volunteers say it’ll take the medical kits less than a week to arrive in Kyiv, and then they will get distributed in a number of Ukrainian cities. But volunteers are not going to sit and wait for that to happen – they are already back at work packing thousands more kits.
((For Lesia Bakalets in Washington, Anna Rice, VOA News))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateMarch 16, 2022 09:00 EDT
BylineLesia Bakalets
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
