More than 100 Palm Desert community members joined together to assemble medical kits to be sent to help soldiers in the Ukraine, a recent KESQ news release said. The community effort resulted in the production of 750 kits, which they hope will help save lives on the front lines.
"Regular people like you and me are being thrown into a situation where they're having to fight for their lives, fight for their families and fight for their properties," Marsha Mercant, a Palm Desert resident, said in the release. "We got involved in this because we were moved by what these people are going through."
The group has been meeting at Indian Ridge Country Club, and they recently put together 750 kits, the release said. The project was made possible through the tens of thousands of dollars the group generated within their community.
The Palm Desert group was motivated to contribute by the efforts of Dr. Dan Olesnicky of Indian Wells, the release said. They followed his instructions for producing the kits, which have the express purpose of stopping bleeding in combat. By current prices, the kits can be made for under $10 each.
The items included in the medical kits are L/XL vinyl gloves, XL surgical dressing or maxi pad, butterfly closure or sterile strips, heavy-duty adhesive bandages, large gauze pads (4x4), triple antibiotic ointment, self-adhering bandages or elastic bandage wrap, and a cotton bandage roll or rolled gauze.
The Palm Desert group hopes that other people will follow its lead and also contribute. For those wishing to assemble a group for the purpose of producing kits, guidance can be obtained by emailing ukrainemedicalkits@gmail.com.