Ambulance donations to Ukraine include one from Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Cedar Rapids ambulance is making its way to Ukraine this week as part of an effort to send emergency equipment to serve on the front lines against the Russian invasion.

The 2014 vehicle from Area Ambulance was picked up Monday afternoon full of medical supplies and sleeping bags and set to begin its journey overseas.

“This provided us with a good opportunity to do something substantial with an ambulance that we were going to take out of service anyhow,” Area Ambulance Executive Director Keith Rippy said. “It gives us something meaningful to do with this unit.”

The donated ambulance is part of a larger program started by Chris Manson, vice president of government relations at OSF Healthcare in Peoria, Ill. Manson, who served in the military and as a volunteer firefighter, said he got the idea to send ambulances to Ukraine while watching the news with his 7-year-old daughter.

“Once the full-scale invasion started back in February, we were watching the news and my daughter would see what was going on and she asked what we could do to help,” Manson said. “That got me thinking and put things in motion.”

He reached out to the Ukraine consulate in Chicago with the idea and officials called him back late that night saying they absolutely needed ambulances.

“By the end of the month, I had an ambulance with supplies in it and secured space on an aircraft and on March 29, we sent the first one to Ukraine,” Manson said. “We’ve now sent 18 and we’re working on another 10 as well as a few fire engines.”

Though this ambulance is the first one from Cedar Rapids, it’s not the first from Iowa.

“Iowa as a state has played a really strong role with this,” Manson said. “We’ve sent three from Muscatine and those are in Ukraine right now working on the front lines. Another one will be coming from another Iowa community, too, so Iowa will soon have five ambulances in Ukraine.”

Manson said that the ambulances are stocked as if they are going on an emergency call. “It’s got the gurney, the supplies: trauma dressings, tourniquets, cardiac monitors, ventilators, AEDs, anything that can restart a heart or breathe for someone or stop bleeding,” he said.

Area Ambulance is stocking the Cedar Rapids ambulance with sleeping bags as well.

“We asked what else they might need over there and due to power shortages, sleeping bags are in high demand,” Rippy said.

Due to the power shortages, ambu bags — handheld tools to deliver ventilation to a patient having trouble breathing — are also needed.

“As the Russians are targeting infrastructure and power sources, if hospitals don’t have power, the only way you can help someone breathe is with those bags,” Manson said. “Anything that will sustain life in these situations, we are sending.”

Manson said it speaks volumes about people willing to take part in this program and donate ambulances.

“Through this, I’ve been able to see the best in people. I’ve been to Ukraine three times and these ambulances are being put into the fight. They are being used,” Manson said. “They’re getting to front line units, getting to hospitals, serving kids and wounded soldiers. I’ve seen it firsthand. Unfortunately, every other day, I’m receiving requests for ambulances, so the need is great.”

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