Two decommissioned ambulances and a Land Rover have been handed over to the Ukrainian military.
North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) has donated more former ambulance vehicles to the Ukraine support effort.
Two decommissioned ambulances and a Land Rover have been handed over to the Ukrainian military courtesy of a Ukrainian doctor and his friends.
Ukrainian and emergency department doctor Anatoliy Telpov alongside NHS colleague Kelley Storey, Dr Simarnam Singh, and staff at FSNE, a private ambulance firm, have been supporting the response.
It is the third such donation of decommissioned vehicles and equipment to be donated by the service over the last year.
The ambulances were driven to the Polish border and handed to Ukrainian military representatives before undergoing final checks and a respray before being used to transport casualties from the frontline to hospitals.
The team are now seeking out more 4×4 vehicles and quadbikes to send over in the next wave of donations.
Helping patients in need.
Graham Tebbutt, managing director of NEASUS, the subsidiary fleet arm of North East Ambulance Service, said: “It’s great to know that even after they’ve finished serving the North East public, our vehicles are able to continue helping patients in need.
“My team have been really proud of being able to play a small role in this work, and I’d like to thank them for their support in ensuring the vehicles were capable of completing the journey.”
The hard-working team of volunteers supporting the response added, “These vehicles have gone to help get people to hospitals from the frontline and we know they have gone to help in the South East of the country. They will be helping every day.
“The journey to take them over to Ukraine went very well. The team was absolutely marvellous and dedicated and they faced long days and very hot conditions with no air conditioning.
“All the vehicles got their final checks and now they’re out there helping. We got some great feedback from the military, saying they were a help.”
