Doctors from Kramatorsk received two modern ventilators from the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation

Today, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, jointly  with SCM, transferred two ventilators to Kramatorsk City Hospital No. 3.

"The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation has purchased and is now transferring the total of over 200 ultramodern ventilators in tranches to Ukrainian doctors in order to save people's lives. This will bridge the deficit with ventilators almost completely. According to the data from the Ministry of Health, main hospitals in Ukraine need about 200 more ventilators. It is important that this kind of aid is sent not only to the clinics in regional centers but also to medical institutions in small cities such as Kramatorsk," Natalya Yemchenko, member of the Supervisory Board of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, said.

The devices transferred to the state clinics of Kramatorsk are part of the largest batch of 32 ventilators delivered by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation to the country since the quarantine began. The equipment was delivered within the framework of the  project Fighting COVID-19 in Ukraine, which became part of the large program Rinat Akhmetov – Saving Lives . 

Deputy Mayor of Kramatorsk, Yurii Liulka, expressed his gratitude to the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation for helping to fight the epidemic and stated that such support is crucial for the city hospital.

"I want to express my gratitude to the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and SСM for their extensive support and assistance. Ventilators are a long-term investment in people's lives and health. Humanity as a whole, our country and even our city have faced a number of problems fighting the pandemic: lack of protection, equipment, and funds to purchase them. The Foundation helped us solve all these problems.

Deputy Chief Physician of Kramatorsk City Hospital No. 3, Larysa Volovykova, told that the doctors were waiting for this equipment for so long.

"Even the best medical professionals are sometimes unable to do anything if they aren't provided with proper working conditions and equipment. We really appreciate all the efforts that the people who installed these devices and improved the working conditions in our hospital put," Larysa Volovykova said.

The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation has resolved to purchase highly-automated ventilators to afford an opportunity to the doctors to start operating them as quickly and efficiently as possible. It also aims to minimize the human factor in saving patients' lives. Head of the Anaesthetic Department of Kramatorsk City Hospital No. 3, Konstantyn Maslov, noted the importance of this approach.

"Each such device means a life saved. And very often not even a life of one person but a dozen lives," Maslov said.

The doctor thanked the Foundation not only for the transfer of expert-class equipment but also for training doctors to operate them:

"Online education is a great opportunity to learn to work with high-end expert devices, and now we can bring theoretical knowledge into practice."

Webinars that will help regional doctors to learn from the country's leading experts who specialise in mechanical ventilation to maximum effect were initiated by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation together with the Ministry of Health. Only the first online conference was attended by more than 800 doctors from across the country. 

In addition, together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the Foundation created a training series "How Ventilators Work", which has already been viewed more than 170,000 times. 

"The coat of arms of Donetsk Oblast has the inscription "the possibility is demonstrated through deeds”. It is very closely related to the assistance that Rinat Akhmetov provides to the country and his native region. He combined the capabilities of all SCM businesses for his countrymen and all Ukrainians. According to the personal decision made by Rinat Akhmetov, 300 million UAH have been financed to combat the coronavirus. They were allocated to save patients who have complications from COVID-19 and protect doctors from possible infection," Oleksandr Vyshniakov, SCM representative in the Donetsk Regional Headquarters Office combating the coronavirus.

The doctors who deal with COVID-19 were also provided with the certificates for sets of medical overalls by the Foundation. Doctors will be able to use the QR code to select the necessary custom-ordered clothing sizes.  

Director of the Donetsk Oblast Department of Health, Volodymyr Kolesnyk, expressed his gratitude to Rinat Akhmetov for helping doctors in the region to close the shortage of equipment:

"Today, the ventilators have become a symbol of hope for life. They are a symbol of hope for salvation. On behalf of the Regional State Administration, I want to express my gratitude for giving this hope.

It should be noted that the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation has been supporting medical professionals from Donetsk Oblast to cope with the challenge from the very beginning of the epidemic. Rapid tests and personal protective equipment are being transferred to the main hospitals in Mariupol, Selydove, Kramatorsk, Kostiantynivka, Pokrovsk, Volnovakha, Sloviansk, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and other cities of the mining region. 

Six high-end ventilators have already been delivered to Lviv Regional Phthisiopulmonological Clinical Diagnostic and Treatment Center. 

Fighting COVID-19 in Ukraine is a large-scale project of the Foundation created to help save people's lives. It is implemented within the framework of the programRinat Akhmetov- Saving Lives . Earlier, Rinat Akhmetov launched 200 Ambulances for Ukraine which was was implemented as part of this program.  Back then, all regional state medical institutions received 200 special vehicles with state-of-the-art military equipment that can get over off-road conditions within the record time of six months. Moreover, 22 vehicles equiped with ventilators`for newborns were also delivered. This is the largest contribution made by one philanthropist to the state medicine of Ukraine since our country became independent. These days, many of these ambulances are involved in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic in all regions. 

Learn more about the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation's assistance in Ukraine to fight the coronavirus here.