Scots bring a mobile dental office for the Ukrainian Armed Forces
From the Polish border to Lviv, this special vehicle from distant Scotland was accompanied by a police patrol car with lights and sound signals on, not even stopping at red lights in the city. And no one interfered with this escort…
“It was nice to see the people of Lviv waving and cheering us on – passersby and drivers were happy to see our small convoy. Lindsay and I were told at the border that the convoy would not stop for red lights or anything else. We got to feel the real warmth of a country at war,” Kenny Simpson, coordinator of the Tayside and Strathearn Help for Ukraine charity organization, described his first moments on Ukrainian soil.
Together with his fellow countryman Lindsey Brown, he brought a mobile dental office for Ukrainian soldiers from Perthshire in Scotland. The money for a used IVECO with a Bill Scott & Son van, equipment maintenance, technical inspection of the vehicle, purchase of equipment and medical humanitarian aid was collected by local residents and brought to the T&SH4UKRAINE warehouse located at Errol airfield.
They relied on a mobile dental module. It was once used by the Royal Perth Hospital NHS Tayside. This superstructure on the IVECO Daily 65C15 chassis was purchased at an auction price of £8,000, which in conversion is approximately UAH 373,646.
I refueled and helped the Ukrainian Armed Forces. You fill your car with Mustang branded fuel at WOG, and the company donates UAH 1 from its own profits for each liter to buy rescue all-terrain vehicles for defenders.
Although the vehicle and the dental unit itself have been used by doctors for more than a year, they came to Ukraine in excellent condition. Before leaving, the dental clinic’s engineer inspected all the equipment. He performed a preventive inspection, repairs with the replacement of some components, rewired the wiring a bit, and assured us that the equipment of the dental unit was in perfect working order and would be in operation for many years to come.
This is how the mobile dental office, which was serving the residents of the county a few months ago, was being prepared to be sent to Ukraine. Photo: Scotland Supporting Ukraine
There was a lack of X-rays and sterilization machines. The sterilization unit for such a humanitarian mission was immediately provided by the industry supplier Henry Schein Dental as soon as they learned about the need. Other companies have also responded.
For example, the Perth Auto Center serviced a car that had driven 17,000 miles, or 27,358 kilometers, for free. We changed the oil, filters, checked the brake system, lighting equipment, etc. After the maintenance, the organizers of the charity event received assurances from the service center that the car was ready not only for a long trip to Ukraine, but would also serve for many more years.
Not having enough money to pay for a place on the ferry, which had already been booked for July 12, and for refueling along the route through Scotland, England, and European countries to Lviv, they threw out a call for the county. On the very first day, people brought 700 pounds to cover the cost of the ferry ride. Then we started to receive funds for fuel on the way to Ukraine and food on the road.
A large batch of humanitarian aid consisting of hygiene items had already been collected before the shipment. These packaged boxes were also loaded into a dental clinic, as the Ukrainian Armed Forces doctors need not only to treat soldiers’ teeth, but also to wash, shave and do laundry.
And this is not the only such help from this county. Volunteers of the charity organization, which was founded after the Russian invasion last year, have already sent more than 50 trucks of aid to Ukraine. And this work continues: the T&SH4UKRAINE benefactors have once again announced a fundraiser among their fellow countrymen to raise money for a new batch of something useful for the Armed Forces and Ukrainians.
