U.S. PROVIDES $61,000 IN AID FOR ZASYADKO MINE EXPLOSION

The United States Government has provided $61,000 worth of medical equipment, supplies and medicine to four hospitals in Donetsk that are treating the survivors of the Zasyadko mine explosion. The aid was given in response to a Government of Ukraine request for emergency assistance.

The first tranche of medical equipment, worth $36,000, was procured by the U.S. Embassy’s Office of Defense Cooperation and delivered to Donetsk two days after the explosion by a U.S. military aircraft from Germany. The four hospitals that received the equipment are the Donetsk Oblast Territorial Medical Facility, the Institute of Urgent and Reconstructive Surgery, the Oblast Trauma Hospital, and the Oblast Hospital of Professional Diseases.

To supplement the equipment the U.S. Embassy provided an additional $25,000 worth of medical supplies and drugs to the hospitals from a special Embassy emergency fund.

The emergency assistance included three defibrillators, four laryngoscopes, infusion and suction apparatus, portable ventilators, anesthesia equipment, beds, mattresses and special pharmaceuticals.

Last year the U.S. government provided $25,000 in disaster relief to the survivors of the Barakov coal mine explosion, and $1 million for a two-year program to improve mine safety in Ukraine. This included the purchase and delivery of special equipment for coal dust abatement and methane gas detection. Six sets of such equipment have already been delivered and installed, and 24 more sets will be delivered during the coming months.