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Supporting Urban Search and Rescue in Ukraine

Direct Relief's Humanitarian Activity for the week of 04/22/2022 - 04/29/2022

News

Operational Update

Project Joint Guardian firefighters conduct search and rescue operations. Direct Relief supported the organization with grant funding, transport of heavy equipment needed to conduct recovery operations, and field medic backpacks for triage care. (Photo courtesy of Oleg Klepach)
By Maeve Ozimec

Over the past seven days, Direct Relief delivered 349 shipments of requested medical aid to 38 U.S. states and territories and 19 countries worldwide, including Ukraine.

The shipments contained 30.7 million defined daily doses of medication, including PPE, Covid-19 therapies, diabetes medication, and cancer treatments.

This week, 133 pallets worth of medical aid left Direct Relief’s warehouse for distribution to Ukraine. Included in the shipments were 23 pallets of cancer treatment meds to the Ministry of Health in Ukraine, and a fourth 50-bed field hospital content kit donated from the State of California (CalOES).

Shipments for Ukraine are staged in Direct Relief’s warehouse on April 21, 2022. Over the past seven days, medications have departed for the country, including chemotherapy treatments for patients with cancer. (Lara Cooper/Direct Relief)

Ukraine Response to Date

Since February 24, Direct Relief has provided medical aid weighing more than 300 tons in weight and including over 61 million defined doses of medication, with more on the way.

Recently, Direct Relief supported Project Joint Guardian, an international nonprofit organization made up of firefighters, a $50,000 grant to transport first responders to Ukraine and help them purchase needed equipment. The organization also supplied the firefighters with Emergency Medical Backpacks intended for triage care, and shipped equipment to the region on their behalf.

Direct Relief is in contact with Ministries of Health throughout the region to assess needs and is sharing information with the U.N., the European Commission, and the World Bank to coordinate relief efforts.

Paramedics and health care providers treating patients on the frontlines of the war in Ukraine are using Direct Relief’s emergency medical backpacks distributed by the NGO, Charity Fund Modern Village and Town. The packs contain triage and medical essentials including infection control, trauma care, diagnostics, and PPE. (Photo courtesy of Charity Fund Modern Village and Town)

In the News

  • The Washington Post – Q&A: Direct Relief CEO Thomas Tighe on how to help Ukraine: “Thomas Tighe says helping Ukrainians can generally be done by using existing aid strategies. It’s just a matter of scale and adapting to circumstances on the ground.“
  • CrisisReady – The Use of Human Mobility Data in Public Health Emergencies : This white paper, which recounts the deliberations that took place of over 40 domain experts during the seminar, examines the challenges and opportunities of data use and sharing to inform decisionmakers and public policy. Direct Relief’s Andrew Schroeder is one of the paper’s co-authors.
  • KCLU – South Coast relief agency ships 250 tons of medical supplies to help Ukrainian refugees: “Direct Relief official calls it one of the biggest efforts in non-profit’s history. From bandages to insulin, a Santa Barbara County based international relief agency has been scrambling for close to two months now to get medicine, and medical supplies to refugees from the war in Ukraine.Thomas Tighe is the President and CEO of Direct Relief. Tighe says the non-profit has been shipping aid directly to Ukraine, as well as to Poland, which absorbed most of the millions of refugees fleeing the war-torn county. “Direct Relief has never done this much, this fast ever,” said Tighe.”
  • Screen Daily – Kino Lorber picks up Cannes 2021 entry, Ukrainian gymnast drama ‘Olga’ : “Kino Lorber has acquired all North American distribution rights to Elie Grappe’s Cannes Critics’ Week 2021 selection and Ukrainian gymnast drama Olga. The distributor plans a theatrical release on June 24, with 10% of proceeds to be donated to Direct Relief in Ukraine.”
  • The 2022 California Pharmacists Association Awards: Direct Relief’s Dr. Ruth Smarinsky has been named California Pharmacists Association’s “Pharmacist of the Year” for 2022. This award recognizes a California pharmacist for outstanding activities in the profession of pharmacy and is the highest award of the association.

WORLDWIDE

This week, outside the U.S., Direct Relief shipped more than 30.5 million defined daily doses of medication.

Countries that received medical aid over the past week included:

  • Ukraine
  • Burundi
  • Nigeria
  • Armenia
  • Paraguay
  • Dominican Republic
  • Ecuador
  • Uganda
  • Rwanda
  • Nicaragua

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 319 shipments containing 181, 985 doses of medications over the past week to organizations, including the following:

  • Center for Family Health and Education, California
  • Lighthouse Medical Ministries, Oklahoma
  • Centro Medico Community Clinic, California
  • Health Services Inc., Alabama
  • Charitable Pharmacy of Central Ohio, Ohio
  • Welvista, South Carolina
  • Bee Busy Wellness Center, Texas
  • San Jose Clinic, Texas
  • Compassionate Care of Shelby County, Ohio
  • Los Angeles Christian Health Centers – Pico Aliso, California

YEAR TO DATE

Since January 1, 2022, Direct Relief has delivered 6,220 shipments to 1,416 healthcare organizations in 51 U.S. states and territories and 72 countries.

These shipments contained 188.3 million defined daily doses of medication valued at $82.9 million (wholesale) and weighing 7.6 million lbs.

Ukraine Relief

Direct Relief is deploying emergency medical aid, from oxygen concentrators to critical care medicines – while preparing longer-term assistance to people in Ukraine displaced or affected by the war.

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