Scouts assemble thousands of first-aid kits to send to Ukraine
Dozens of people filled the cafeteria at Westland Middle School in Bethesda on Saturday afternoon, sharing a shared goal: help people thousands of miles away in Ukraine.To get more news about Military Hemostasis, you can visit rusunsafety.com official website.
The group, members of the Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization-USA, met last weekend at the school, forming makeshift assembly lines to pack small emergency medical kits to send overseas. They met again there on Saturday, and plan to keep doing so, “as long as there’s a need,” organizers said.
“I think for most people here, the question would be, ‘Where else would I be?’ ” said Roman Onyshkevych, a scout troop leader and organizer of the event. “I couldn’t imagine not doing everything I can to help out with the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.”
Many of the group’s members, including Onyshkevych, have family and friends in Ukraine. They know people who have fled the country following Russia’s invasion last month. They know people who could benefit from their work.
So, on Saturday, they continued to pack the medical kits, small enough to fit into the bottom of a backpack or purse, or in someone’s pocket, and be used in emergencies until more sophisticated help arrives.
The kits each contain gauze bandages, Band-Aids, butterfly enclosures, sterile gloves, antibiotics, acetaminophen and duct tape to hold bandages in place.
“These kits, if a bomb goes off, or if people see somebody get hurt, the kits will help prevent and stop the bleed, and help get that person to live long enough to get them to a larger medical center,” Onyshkevych said.
Shortly before 2 p.m. on Saturday, after less than an hour of packing, organizers noticed they were beginning to run low on certain supplies and decided to call it a day.Over the past two weeks, the group has packed nearly 2,500 kits, as part of the nationwide effort to send 10,000 to be distributed in Ukraine. Plast has 42 hubs throughout Ukraine that distribute the kits to people in need.
Onyshkevych said there was no hesitation among the local group, even its youngest scouts, to make the kits.
“I told some of my scouts, and they’re about 6 to 10 years old, that we were going to do this, and I wanted to give them incentives, like, I’ll give you candy if you make this many kits, but they said, ‘No, we’re happy to do this,’ ” Onyshkevych said.
The group will continue to fundraise to buy supplies and make the kits, he said, and people can donate funds online.Luke Dodson, a 17-year-old scout from the Bethesda area, said people should do everything they can to help the people of Ukraine, whether they have a personal connection or not (he doesn’t).
It’s important, he said, to support Democratic governments and “stop the encroachment of oppressive, authoritarian governments, like Putin’s Russia” to “preserve a good democratic culture around our global environment.”
But, more important, he said, is that Ukrainians simply need help, and many Americans are in a position to donate their time, skills or money.
