Razom Health Team Deepdive

Published: April 14, 2022   

In over a month of victory and loss in Ukraine, Razom volunteers have worked tirelessly to find the most effective ways to deliver humanitarian aid that is most urgently needed to save lives.  To build a more prosperous, free, democratic Ukraine, we need to stop the bleeding.  Tactical medicine and tactical medical supplies are just one side of the equation – they help save lives in the field and in extreme situations.  However, given the strain on the healthcare system in Ukraine due to the war and the covid pandemic, delivering basic medicines, medical devices, and hospital supplies have the power to impact lives off the field.

Razom Health Team has built relationships with large nonprofit organizations and agencies that aggregate hospital supplies, with global health and major disaster relief organizations, and with several hospitals, to collect in-kind donations.  The partnerships with these giant donation entities allow Razom to maintain steady activity in shipping and distributing hospital medicines and supplies to people in many regions across Ukraine who need it most.  Those partners include:

Patients of Ukraine (Пацієнти України) and Zdorovi are our partners on the ground helping to distribute the aid in the hands of the right end user.  Through them, we have access to five warehouses across three different cities in Ukraine to be able to reliably distribute aid to hospitals in need.

Below is an overview of the $1.5M+ in estimated value of in-kind donations made to Razom, facilitated by our Razom Health Team:

  • Razom shipped 26 pallets of medical supplies via Partners For World Health in-kind donation.   
  • Razom shipped 1 sea container of medical supplies via MedShare in-kind donation.
  • Razom delivered three shipments of medications via Americares in-kind donation totaling 8 pallets.
  • Razom shipped 21 pallets of new hospital scrubs to military hospitals in Ukraine to boost morale of the overworked medical professionals via FIGS in-kind donation. 
  • We’ve also coordinated in-kind donations from hospitals and individual medical professionals that have collectively included:
    • 8 pallets of medical hospital supplies from UMass Memorial Medical Center
    • 1 wound vac and 5 boxes of surgical / central line catheters from private donations
    • 6 boxes of surgical supplies from Rhode Island Doctors donated to our tactical medicine efforts
  • Our donors have purchased 6,850 items off of our Amazon Wishlist, valuing over $180,000 of in-kind donations. There are still 9,543 items remaining on that list, including the most urgently needed humanitarian and medical supplies that we’re delivering to Ukraine. Go here to make an in-kind donation to Razom.
  • Help Heroes of Ukraine, a charity organization based out of Chicago has been a major transportation partner for us, volunteering to deliver many pallets of aid on our behalf to our Meest warehouse in New Jersey.
The magnificent Razom Hospitals Team in action

A special partnership thus far has been with MedGlobal, a humanitarian and health NGO working to serve vulnerable communities around the world by providing innovative, free, and sustainable healthcare.  Together with the Ministry of Health in Ukraine, MedGlobal and Razom conducted the first of several successful medical missions bringing a team of 7 trauma surgeons to provide over 40 hours of trainings for an estimated total of 350 Ukrainian physicians in Lviv, Ukraine on poly trauma surgical procedures/ diagnostics/ surgeries, on operating portable butterfly ultrasounds (donated by MedGlobal), and educating doctors on how to prepare and act in case of chemical warfare.  These volunteering doctors were coming from Newark, NJ, Chicago, IL, Nashville, TN, and two from Paris, France.

The MedGlobal group also brought along with them 37 suitcases of medical supplies (over two missions) and 14 portable butterfly ultrasounds, estimating $700,000 in value, to hospitals across Ukraine post-training.  The butterfly ultrasounds are especially powerful in democratizing access to medical imaging in resource constrained zones. A total of 10,000 patients may benefit from just one of these missions!

Razom also helped facilitate MedGlobal’s meeting with over 50 medical students in Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University and over a dozen medical leaders and heads of hospitals in Lviv.

We are so grateful to be building long-term relationships with these organizations as they are key to Razom being able to respond quickly and at scale to the needs in Ukraine.  There’s good reason we named ourselves Razom, which means “together” in Ukrainian.

Dr. Zaher Sahloul of MedGlobal visiting med school students in Lviv
Volunteer Iryna Kit loading up your Amazon Wishlist donations (with a little furry helper) to transfer to our NJ warehouse
Amazon Wishlist donations packed & sorted at the warehouse

Newsletter #9: Razom Health Team, volunteer fundraising spotlight, and latest roster of events

Published: March 31, 2022   

Below you’ll find updates from Razom Health team, a volunteer fundraising impact story grown out of WI, and a list of the latest events across the country for you to go and support Ukraine.

Dear Razom community,

The sorting and packing in our New Jersey warehouse doesn’t stop and that’s thanks to all of your (and our partners’) donations and our teams’ procurements that continue to pour in.  Each of the steps you take, big or small, are a part of a chain of support that makes a difference in Ukraine.  Today we want to shine a light on two different teams at Razom – the hospitals team and the US migrant task force team. 

Razom Health team (hospitals@razomforukraine.org) is a segment of our Emergency Response project that coordinates and partners with global health and major disaster relief organizations to collect in-kind donations of hospital supplies and medicines for Ukraine. Those partners include MedShare, PartnersforWorldHealth, Americares, and Afya Foundation.  Thanks to our on the ground partners Zdorovi and Patients of Ukraine (Пацієнти України), we have access to five warehouses across 3 different cities in Ukraine to be able to reliably distribute aid to hospitals in need.  Here’s what they’ve accomplished so far:

  • MedGlobal x Razom x UMANA x Ministry of Health in Ukraine are partnering to facilitate the first of several week-long medical missions by bringing a team of 10 trauma surgeons to Lviv, traveling with 160 suitcases of medical supplies and portable butterfly ultrasounds.  They will provide trainings for Ukrainian doctors on poly trauma surgical procedures/diagnostics/surgeries, on operating portable butterfly ultrasounds (donated by MedGlobal), and educating doctors on how to prepare (and act) in case of chemical warfare.
  • PartnersforWorldHealth has sent over 26 pallets of medical supplies to Razom, 7 of which we shipped by air and the rest by sea (based on priority of needs in Ukraine).  
  • MedShare is finalizing its first sea container of medical supplies to go to Ukraine next week, and has invited Razom to its 10th Annual Share the Good Gala on April 4th to raise funds for humanitarian aid efforts in Ukraine. 
  • Americares is sending its 3rd large shipment of urgent medications next week via Razom for our partner in Ukraine Patients of Ukraine (Пацієнти України). 
  • We’ve also coordinated and received in-kind donations from hospitals and individual medical works that have collectively included:
    • 8 pallets of medical hospital supplies from UMass Memorial Medical Center
    • 1 woundvac and 5 boxes of surgical / central line catheters from private donations
    • 6 boxes of surgical supplies from Rhode Island Doctors donated to our tactical medicine efforts
  • FIGS donated 21 pallets of new hospital scrubs to military hospitals in Ukraine to boost morale of the overworked medical professionals.  
  • Help Heroes of Ukraine has been a major transportation partner for us, volunteering to deliver many pallets of aid on our behalf to our Meest warehouse in New Jersey.  

We are so grateful to be building long-term relationships with these organizations as they are key to Razom being able to respond quickly and at scale to needs in Ukraine.  There’s good reason we named ourselves Razom, which means “together” in Ukrainian #RazomAccelerates.

Thanks to the work of the Door County Candle Company, there’s now a little bit of Ukraine lighting up homes in all 50 states in the U.S., including Puerto Rico.  Second generation Ukrainian-American, Christiana Gorchynsky Trapani, channeled her feelings of helplessness over what’s happening in Ukraine by putting her talents and resources to good use, and inspiring her community to do the same.  This artisan candle shop located in Sturgeon Bay, WI in Northern Wisconsin’s Door County Peninsula, has raised over $300,000 (and counting) for Razom’s Emergency Response by selling over 40,000 “Ukraine” candles.  That’s double the amount they’d usually sell in a year!    

To be able to get this done, Christiana got her father, an ER doctor helping when he’s not on shift, her Door County community of volunteers, and even the previous owner of the shop, who came out of retirement to help streamline the process.  People drive up from hours away to be a part of the volunteer effort pouring and preparing candles or making lunches and coffee for the team.  Even Christiana’s 82 year-old grandmother, who immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine as a child during World War II, is helping to sticker the packages. 

Everyday people from all walks of life, professions, creeds, ethnicities, and worldviews unite to do one thing to help Ukraine, and it’s so beautiful.  You don’t have to do everything, but you can do something, and together, that can be extraordinary.

Finally, here’s a list of events we’d like to bring to your attention and encourage you to support:  

  • On Saturday, April 2nd theUkrainian Bandura Chorus Concert of North America will be performing a Save the Ukrainian Voice Charitable Concert in Michigan with all proceeds benefiting Razom.  
  • On Saturday, April 2nd refnight.com (who goes to a hockey game every year to cheer for the referees and raise money for charity) has chosen Razom for an evening at a New Jersey Devils hockey game. 
  • All the proceeds from a Charity Gala Event on Sunday, April 3rd at the Oceana Theater in Brooklyn will be going to Razom’s Emergency Response project.   The event will be performance-based, with the acts varying from music (performances from KAZKA and Alyosha amongst others), children’s choir and dance, speeches, and video blocks (feat. Okean Elzy, Jamala, and Max Barskih).
  • NYC Moms For A Cause will be hosting a Cocktail Reception to Benefit Ukrainian Families on April 12th, 6:30-9:00pm at the Ukrainian Institute of America.  The evening will include live performances, a silent auction, and heavy canapés and flowing drinks, all in support of Razom’s Emergency Response. 
  • April 30th from 3:30-7:30pm the Hudson Valley Relief Benefit will feature guest speakers, music, food, and a silent auction.  Get you tickets and join Novellas Restaurant in New Paltz, NY to support Razom’s Emergency Response project!

As always, thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter and continue to #StandWithUkraine. 

Stay Razom.

38 Tons of Medical Supplies on the way to Poland

Published: March 7, 2022   

Our Emergency Response Project is well underway, with some of the hardest work yet to come.

  • Kryla Nadiyi (which means “Wings of Hope” in Ukrainian) are our partners on the ground in western Ukraine warehousing, sorting, and distributing our humanitarian aid to various hot spots across the country. They are one of the top charities in Ukraine doing this type of work since 2013.
  • The first shipments of tactical medicine (purchased & shipped on day two of the war) are now arriving to civilian territorial defenses in Kyiv and Zhytomyr oblasts in Ukraine. We are enormously grateful for this brave and trusted group of volunteers who are ensuring its safe arrival. Tacmed supplies continue to be one of the most urgent forms of aid needed to get into the hands of Ukrainians.
  • We have streamlined our operations with Meest America Inc., and right now, 38 tons more of tactical medical and hospital supplies are making their way to Ukraine via Poland.
  • Finally, since the start of the war, we’ve spent over $1.5M procuring this humanitarian aid and covering logistical costs.
  • Last, but most certainly not least, we ask you to consider making a contribution to the following efforts:
    • Our Razom’s Emergency Response Project works to deliver only the most urgent humanitarian aid in war torn parts of Ukraine, which includes tactical medical supplies, hospital needs, and supplies that enable the safe and efficient distribution of that aid (like med tactical backpacks, GPS devices, satellite phones, and drones).   
    • UACC’s fundraiser to export helmets and armory vests to Ukraine and get them in the hands of territorial defense units across key parts of the country is still ongoing.  
    • With the heavy flow of supplies going daily across the ocean to Ukraine, it was only a matter of time until Razom’s partnership with Meest America, Inc. shipping company would require additional support.  We are raising money to ensure that the donations you’ve delivered to Meest, that go beyond tacmed and medical supplies (many of you have been doing epic Costco runs!), get shipped across the ocean to Ukraine efficiently.  

Stay informed. Stay Razom. Support Ukraine.

Co-Pilot Project 2021 Update

Published: December 30, 2021   

In 2021 we continued our work in Ukraine with the Co-Pilot Project with one formal trip (led by Mariya Soroka and Luke Tomycz) during which we performed several epilepsy and brain tumor surgeries with surgical partners in both Kyiv and Lutsk.  A highlight of this trip was an anatomic hemispherectomy – the first to our knowledge ever performed in Ukraine – on a little girl in Lutsk who had a recurrence of her seizures, but again is seizure free and doing very well after this repeat surgery.  We also traveled to Uzhgorod where we had a busy day of consultation with the local epilepsy team on various complex epilepsy patients who came from all around the country.  


Unfortunately, because of the COVID pandemic, trips by both Dr. Matthew Geck (from Austin, Texas) to perform scoliosis surgery and Dr. James Liu (from Newark , NJ) to perform skull base surgery were canceled this year.  But we hope to reschedule both of these trips as restrictions loosen.  Furthermore, several of the Ukrainian surgeons who were slated to visit Dr. Forbes in Cincinnati have had their fellowships delayed.   


Thanks to connections made by Dr. Vitalii and Yulia Shama and Oleksa Martinouk, we were able to speak with two new surgical partners in Europe, Drs. Schmitz in Germany and Dr. Rocka in Lithuania, both of whom are interested in training Ukrainian residents and setting up an international fellowship/observership in coordination with our team.


Finally, with the help of Maria Borisovska PhD, we were able to locate and purchase an EEG amplifier and this was transported to Dr. Kostiuk, the chief of epilepsy surgery at Romadanov Institute.  He has already used this for intraoperative electrocorticography and we hope to assist them in their first extra-operative mapping case.  This technology should substantially improve this center’s capabilities to offer surgery to a wider number of patients with drug-resistant, refractory epilepsy.  


We hope during the next trip which is planned for April/May of 2022 we will reach and surpass an exciting milestone: the 100th major neurosurgical operation conducted by our team in Ukraine in cooperation with our partner surgeons!  We hope to plan an annual dinner and fundraising event in 2022 following this trip.
  

Learn more about the project here.

Donate to support neurosurgical training for Ukrainian doctors:


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Oxygen concentrators delivered to more Ukrainian hospitals

Published: April 24, 2021   

Our second fundraiser in support of Ukrainian hospitals fighting COVID-19 is going strong. As yet another spike in new cases has swamped the country, medical institutions and non-profit organizations from all over Ukraine are in search of life-saving oxygen for patients who cannot do without air support. Your recent donations helped purchasing the three more oxygen concentrators that were delivered to clinics and hospital in three different oblasts, all specifically focused on treating the coronavirus patients.

Thus, one concentrator was delivered to the Vorokhta outpatient clinic (Ivano-Frankivsk region), one more to the Shiryaiv CDH (Odessa region), and another one to the Bilokorovytsia outpatient clinic (Zhytomyr region).

We thank everyone for your support, generous donations and information sharing! We are also thankful for the outstanding cooperation with the non-profit Patients of Ukraine (Patsienty Ukrainy), who have been working hard to find, purchase and deliver the much-needed medical equipment to various Ukrainian cities, towns and villages!

Razom volunteers and supporters stand with courageous Ukrainian doctors, outpatient and health departments’ staff. We are deeply grateful for your tireless work! You are not alone. We are – razom – together!

Please consider supporting our Facebook fundraiser or donating at the Razom Emergency Response page.

Learn more about Razom efforts to help Ukraine fight the pandemic:
– Initial Pandemic Response
– Emergency Response Webinars
– Over $45 000 Delivered in Supplies to Health Care Workers

Co-Pilot Project in Scientific Journal

Published: January 23, 2021   

We are thrilled to share with you that our Co-Pilot Project which aims to raise the bar of neurosurgery training in Ukraine has been described and published as a learning case in the scientific journal Science Direct.

“About 5 years ago, I first travelled to Ukraine to meet and operate with neurosurgery colleagues in Kyiv. – writes Dr. Luke Tomycz, the leading neurosurgeon of the Co-Pilot Project team – Since then, our team of surgeons from the United States have assisted colleagues in Ukraine with over 80 major operations on the brain and spine, in addition to consulting on countless hundreds more. I want to thank my friends from the U.S. who have taken time away from family and work to travel to Ukraine, colleagues in Ukraine who inspire us with their resilience and ingenuity, members of our administrative “Co-Pilot” team who meet monthly to work on this project, and members of Razom and the greater Ukrainian community who have supported and donated to this work. We are humbled by your continued support as we look to build epilepsy surgery capabilities at several centers around Ukraine.”

You can find the article available online and for free here.

Earlier, in Fall 2019, the CPP program was also presented at the Princeton University. Read more about the presentation here.

Learn more about the Co-Pilot Project and support neurosurgery training in Ukraine here.

Two hospitals in Ukraine received life-saving equipment due to Razom collaborative emergency fundraising efforts

Published: July 23, 2020   

Pandemic Response Support

Published: April 10, 2020   

Currently, Razom Emergency Response is focused on providing support to Ukraine and to Ukrainian doctors in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. We are raising funds to buy and distribute personal protective equipment to doctors in hospitals which are dedicated to battling the disease. Our volunteers are working with several organizations to raise the funds, to source the material, and to distribute the goods responsibly.

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Co-Pilot Project in Princeton

Published: September 27, 2019   

September 25th – the Co-Pilot project duo of American neurosurgeon Luke Tomycz and Ukrainian neurosurgeon Ihor Kurilets presented the Co-Pilot Project at the Princeton University.

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Medical Reform In Ukraine Explained By A Brain Surgeon

Published: March 22, 2019   

Razom and The Ukrainian Medical Association of North America (UMANA) welcomed Dr. Igor Kurilets, Ukrainian neurosurgeon and Co-Pilot project participant, in New York on March 18th at Caveat.

continue reading →