The main purpose of this short trip is to transport urgent medications and medical supplies into Ukraine, especially to the besieged areas, before all transportation routes are destroyed or closed. Therefore, the 10 suitcases contained mostly water filtration straws, emergency blankets/sleeping bags, emergency trauma kits, and emergency medications and medical supplies.
While the initial intention was not to provide medical relief for the refugees in Poland, as per the news, there should already be solidarity and many international aid organizations in Poland. However, such was not the case when our team arrived at Warsaw Central Train Station, one of the largest receiving sites for Ukrainian refugees. There was no medical doctor on site, and the medical tents were operated by Polish EMTs and volunteers. When they learned that we were two doctors from America, they immediately provided us with volunteer vests and sent us into the main medical tent to see patients.
After a short while, we were requested to go to a nearby refugee camp called Expo, which at that time housed 7,000 to 10,000 refugees. (The number of refugees from Ukraine increased drastically from over 1 million to 3 million in less than the one week that we were there, and at the time of this writing, Poland is housing nearly 2 million refugees.) However, at Expo, we quickly learned that the refugee camp administration team had already established a private clinic there. It turns out that Poland has two main healthcare systems: public and private. Due to the rapidly increasing number of refugees, private clinics and hospitals stepped in to help. In fact, it seemed like most people in Warsaw were volunteering to help the refugees when they were not working their regular jobs. By the time we left Warsaw, the systems seemed more organized. Though we did not see many non-Polish international aid teams, we did see many busloads of supplies, such as shoes, clothing, and blankets. There is definitely solidarity in Poland, and we were deeply touched by the love, kindness, and support flooding into Poland from all over the world. It was a blessing to witness all of this.
The second purpose of our trip is to collect as much information as possible to best offer our medical aid. As we learned more from people who had just come out of Ukraine, local Polish clinics and pharmacies, people inside Ukraine, and mission teams established in Ukraine even prior to the war, we were shocked and saddened to learn that not many large humanitarian aid and medical teams were able to successfully enter the deeper parts of Ukraine. Therefore, most of Ukraine is left to fend for themselves. We learned about groups experienced in war or disaster situations such as Direct Relief, MSF (Doctors Without Borders), Samaritan's Purse, etc., and had the chance to speak with some of their local teams. However, we also saw many international organizations that would ship supplies to Poland or even to the border city Lviv, due to a lack of means for distribution or an understanding of the true needs, resulting in their boxes or supplies being piled in some corners. If you or your group would like information on urgently needed items or where to send them, please use the contact page to send a quick note. Please specify if you would also like a list of specific medications and medical supplies that are needed. Meanwhile, ABC will continue to fine-tune our efforts in the hopes of being able to offer sustainable medical assistance, even for post-war rebuilding (let's pray that this will be very soon).
The third purpose of our trip is to establish a base camp to continue providing medical aid and medical supplies. One concerning need is the management of severe PTSD, not only in adults but especially in children. During the few days working with the refugees, I saw many, if not all, children exhibiting signs and symptoms of acute stress disorder to various degrees. Many will go on to develop PTSD, especially since most of these children will no longer be able to grow up with the male figures in their lives (men between the ages of 18-60 are no longer allowed to leave Ukraine, therefore most of the refugees are women, children, and elderly people). There will be a large need for comprehensive and extensive counseling, psychotherapies, and even pharmacotherapy, not to mention treatment for permanent injuries sustained during the war. If you are in related fields and would like to join us for either immediate assistance or long-term assistance, please also use the contact page to reach out to us.
While the initial intention was not to provide medical relief for the refugees in Poland, as per the news, there should already be solidarity and many international aid organizations in Poland. However, such was not the case when our team arrived at Warsaw Central Train Station, one of the largest receiving sites for Ukrainian refugees. There was no medical doctor on site, and the medical tents were operated by Polish EMTs and volunteers. When they learned that we were two doctors from America, they immediately provided us with volunteer vests and sent us into the main medical tent to see patients.
After a short while, we were requested to go to a nearby refugee camp called Expo, which at that time housed 7,000 to 10,000 refugees. (The number of refugees from Ukraine increased drastically from over 1 million to 3 million in less than the one week that we were there, and at the time of this writing, Poland is housing nearly 2 million refugees.) However, at Expo, we quickly learned that the refugee camp administration team had already established a private clinic there. It turns out that Poland has two main healthcare systems: public and private. Due to the rapidly increasing number of refugees, private clinics and hospitals stepped in to help. In fact, it seemed like most people in Warsaw were volunteering to help the refugees when they were not working their regular jobs. By the time we left Warsaw, the systems seemed more organized. Though we did not see many non-Polish international aid teams, we did see many busloads of supplies, such as shoes, clothing, and blankets. There is definitely solidarity in Poland, and we were deeply touched by the love, kindness, and support flooding into Poland from all over the world. It was a blessing to witness all of this.
The second purpose of our trip is to collect as much information as possible to best offer our medical aid. As we learned more from people who had just come out of Ukraine, local Polish clinics and pharmacies, people inside Ukraine, and mission teams established in Ukraine even prior to the war, we were shocked and saddened to learn that not many large humanitarian aid and medical teams were able to successfully enter the deeper parts of Ukraine. Therefore, most of Ukraine is left to fend for themselves. We learned about groups experienced in war or disaster situations such as Direct Relief, MSF (Doctors Without Borders), Samaritan's Purse, etc., and had the chance to speak with some of their local teams. However, we also saw many international organizations that would ship supplies to Poland or even to the border city Lviv, due to a lack of means for distribution or an understanding of the true needs, resulting in their boxes or supplies being piled in some corners. If you or your group would like information on urgently needed items or where to send them, please use the contact page to send a quick note. Please specify if you would also like a list of specific medications and medical supplies that are needed. Meanwhile, ABC will continue to fine-tune our efforts in the hopes of being able to offer sustainable medical assistance, even for post-war rebuilding (let's pray that this will be very soon).
The third purpose of our trip is to establish a base camp to continue providing medical aid and medical supplies. One concerning need is the management of severe PTSD, not only in adults but especially in children. During the few days working with the refugees, I saw many, if not all, children exhibiting signs and symptoms of acute stress disorder to various degrees. Many will go on to develop PTSD, especially since most of these children will no longer be able to grow up with the male figures in their lives (men between the ages of 18-60 are no longer allowed to leave Ukraine, therefore most of the refugees are women, children, and elderly people). There will be a large need for comprehensive and extensive counseling, psychotherapies, and even pharmacotherapy, not to mention treatment for permanent injuries sustained during the war. If you are in related fields and would like to join us for either immediate assistance or long-term assistance, please also use the contact page to reach out to us.