Portable Scanners for Sumy Hospitals, Ukraine

Who are we?: HUGS - Help Ukraine Group Support is an established community of dedicated volunteers in the south of England. Together with partner organisations and a network of drivers, we supply medical and humanitarian aid to frontline communities in Ukraine. We have been active since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine back in 2022.

What we are looking for: We need to raise GBP £8,100 to buy two vitally needed lifesaving Vscan Air Ultrasound handheld scanners. If we exceed our target sum we will buy as many as we are able.

Who needs them?: A group of 6 hospitals in war-torn Sumy, NE Ukraine, are in desperate need of portable scanners. Sumy has been targeted by the Russians since the beginning of the war and its hospitals have suffered direct hits. Medics are struggling to cope with casualties in addition to regular patient admissions and urgently need these scanners to speed up diagnoses.

What are they used for?: These portable pieces of equipment help doctors to swiftly assess the severity of injuries, diagnose organ malfunction, identify the nature and position of foreign objects in the body, support antenatal and paediatric care and help to diagnose and prioritise patients’ medical needs.

The small, versatile and robust units can be used on adults, children and newborns. In addition to normal clinical applications, they can be paired with smartphones to scan and record images for transmission to medics for onward specialist treatment.

Easily carried in a shoulder bag, the units can be used to swiftly assess patients in different locations. They can also be quickly taken out of harm’s way when incoming missile and drone attacks are imminent.

Please, please help us to raise the funds for these critical pieces of equipment. Every donation – no matter how small (or large) - will help medics, working under unimaginable conditions, to better understand the needs of their patients and give them a chance to save lives.

Thank you.