A GROUP of North-East doctors are spearheading efforts to procure vital medical aid for Ukraine.
Dr Karolis Rozanas, an 'adopted Geordie' from Lithuania, and Dr Kasia Kostrzewa, from Poland, have co-founded Ukraine Medical Aid North East.
Dr Rozanas said: "It started as a conversation between myself and my colleague to try to source medical supplies from our local trusts - anything that’s expired or is about to expire and would be discarded anyway.
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"We have already approached most if not all the trusts in the North-East.
"I am in discussion with Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead, where I work. They have been very supportive and have offered us a storage facility - a warehouse - and are trying to arrange pick ups items regionally and from other regions.
"They are also looking to see if there anything from their stocks they can help with."
Dr Rozanas, who plans to become a GP, said the effort had been taken up nationwide.
He said: "We are aiming to collect the relevant items, sort them, make a record of them, package them and load them onto a convoy heading for the Ukrainian border and into Ukraine where they will be distributed to field hospitals.
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"We looking for medications such as blood clotting agents, broad spectrum antibiotics, local anaesthetics, suturing materials and cardiac monitors.
"A five page document has been produced by doctors on the frontline. We are condensing the list to the most essential items."
Co-founder, Dr Kostrzewa, is a core trainee in plastic surgery at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.
Ukraine Medical Aid North East is working with British Ukranian Aid Charity, who will help transport the equipment to where it is needed in Ukriane and the border in Poland.
Anyone who would like to volunteer or help can join the Ukraine Medical Aid North East on Facebook by clicking here.
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