Angela Crawford
Lancefield paramedic Jodie Rogers is headed to war-torn Ukraine in February where her training in tactical combat casualty care will be put to good use.
Jodie is volunteering for three months with charity organisation, Smart Medical Aid, to teach CPR and tourniquet application to people on the streets and work alongside Ukrainian paramedics.
“I will also assist in sorting and distributing medical supplies to Ukrainian hospitals,” she said.
As part of her efforts, Jodie is fundraising in the hope of raising $100,000 for a new ambulance.
“Smart Medical Aid has distributed 800 tonnes of medical equipment, 100,000 arterial tourniquets and 42 ambulances. I want to make that 43,” she told the Express.
“Raising more than my target will go toward medical supplies and equipment desperately required by hospitals or, if the unbelievable happens, to purchase a second ambulance.”
Jodie has 16 years’ experience as an ambo and has also trained in wilderness medicine. She spent some time working in immigration detention on the island of Nauru.
“I’ve done a fair bit of work with the Australian Defence Force out of Puckapunyal, living out in the bush with them while they do their live firing exercises,” she said.
Jodie is also no stranger to volunteering in places in real need, and in 2005, fresh out of grad school, she spent five weeks volunteering in a hospital in the central highlands of Papua New Guinea.
“It was incredible, I got to do some things that my colleagues would never get to do here in Australia, given its location,” she said.
“It was rewarding for me to be doing something to help people who needed it.”
In Ukraine, Jodie will be based in Lviv, close to the Polish border and away from the front line. She has an exit plan in place should the situation escalate in the region.
Anyone wanting to support Jodie’s fundraising efforts can do so via the Go Fund Me campaign, ‘Ambos for Ukraine’.
