
B.C. doctor fundraising to bring medical equipment to front lines in Ukraine
Global News
It will be the third trip to the war-torn country for Dr. Tracy Parnell, who hails from the Kootenay community of Cranbrook.
A Ukraine-bound B.C. doctor is fundraising for specialized medical gear to take overseas, which she says is needed to help medical teams on the ground facing an “absolutely catastrophic” situation.
It will be the third trip to the war-torn country for Dr. Tracy Parnell, who hails from the Kootenay community of Cranbrook.
Parnell made her first trip over after hearing stories from a colleague in Lviv about gynecologists at front-line field hospitals trying to learn trauma surgery on the fly.
“The need is just so overwhelming there,” said Parnell, who specializes in emergency medicine and is an expert in crisis and disaster management.
“Along the front to be honest I really have a hard time distinguishing between who is a combatant, who isn’t a combatant. Everyone is in camo, even the 80-year-old babushkas. Anyone who is injured is given care.”
Parnell said doctors at the front are working with outdated and substandard equipment, including — in some cases — surplus Second World War canvas stretchers.
“And they’re being used over and over,” she said. “I mean you can’t get the blood out.”
Crews on the ground need modern equipment, along with specialized gear to help them treat patients once winter arrives, she said.