– Following an agreement with Sander Sørsveen Trelvik and Simon Johnsen, we can confirm that they are on board the plane. We cannot comment on where they will be transported after they have landed in Norway, says director of emergency preparedness Steinar Olsen in the Norwegian Directorate of Health. news spoke to one of the injured while they were on their way home. Just under a week has passed since the Russian attack in the town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. American Pete Reed was killed in the same attack. He also worked as a volunteer in Ukraine. – The situation inside Bakhmut is tough, it is a bloodbath, says Simon Johnsen to news. Johnsen suffered a concussion, has lost partial hearing in one ear, has burns on both arms and external injuries to the head. Trelvik is said to have suffered burns to large parts of his body, two burst eardrums and splinters in his body. Norwegian Simon Johnsen was injured in a Russian attack on Thursday 2 February. Photo: Privat Received equipment from Norway Simon Johnsen was to receive medical equipment from Norway to the value of 5 million, according to the supply manager at the Helgeland hospital in Mo i Rana, Martin Kaspersen. Together with a local organization, he was to distribute the equipment to various hospitals in Ukraine. – They have a major shortage of equipment. The Ukrainian health system has probably been under pressure for a long time, even before the war. There is a need for advanced equipment and more specialized treatment, Johnsen tells news. It is unclear how many Norwegians actually work as volunteers in Ukraine. Around 50 people are said to have registered entry to Ukraine on reiseregistrering.no, according to Mathias Rongved, press officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifies that they do not know exactly how many of these work as volunteers in the country. From Northern Norway to Ukraine The equipment from Norway was collected by three different hospitals in Northern Norway. Last week, two containers were transported from Helgeland Hospital in Mo i Rana to Oslo. Here the equipment was sorted and reloaded into two trucks. – There is monitoring equipment, respirators and infection control equipment that are no longer in use. There are large values that have been unused, supply manager Martin Kaspersen at Helgeland’s hospital in Mo i Rana tells news. Some of the equipment is infection control equipment that was purchased during the corona pandemic. – But it turned out that part of what we bought was not suitable for the use we thought. But using it in urgent, rapid actions can work very well, says Kaspersen. The equipment has been lying unused in a warehouse. Now they are distributed to different hospitals in the cities of Lviv, Bakhmut and Dnipro. Photo: Mohammed / Alayoubi Have to change plans after the Russian attack The voluntary organization Ukrainian Frontline Emergency Aid was supposed to deliver the equipment from Norway to Simon Johnsen. Through Johansen’s contacts, the delivery from Norway was to be distributed to the Ukrainian hospitals in Lviv, Bakhmut and Dnipro, among others. Now the plans are changed. – Unfortunately, our primary recipient was bombed. So now we have plan B. A local organization will do the distribution instead of Simon, says Fabian Falch who is the head of Ukrainian Frontline Emergency Aid. Leader Fabian Falch of the organization Ukrainian Frontline Emergency Aid, has coordinated the collection, sorting and transport of the medical equipment to Ukraine. Photo: Mohammed Alayoubi / news – We have close cooperation with very few actors on the ground. The large organizations work on their own projects. We work cross-sectionally based on needs that the established aid organizations don’t get, Falck says. Do not fear corruption It is no secret that Ukraine struggles with corruption. Recently, Deputy Minister Vasyl Losynskyj was arrested after the police searched his apartment. He was subsequently removed from his post, according to Ukrainian media. Used wheelchairs from Nav and electric heaters taken from the environmental station are among the equipment now being sent to Ukraine. Photo: Mohammed Alayoubi / news – We are very careful about corruption. All the contacts we have are secure contacts. We have followed up with them throughout. These are hospitals that we collaborate a lot with, and supply a lot of equipment to. We see that everything we deliver is put to use and that it is in use when we are in the hospitals, Simon Johnsen tells news. Now partners in Ukraine will take care of the distribution with the help of the Norwegian organization Ukrainian Frontline Emergency Aid.
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Should receive medical equipment from Norway, was hit by a Russian attack – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
