Ukraine
2022
Date
Ongoing
Duration
22
Locations
102
Deployed
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Ukraine: Building Capacity in Crisis

 

At Global Response Medicine (GRM), we believe the best solutions come when local expertise, international knowledge, and real-world context meet. Our role is to bring people together, reduce redundancy, and increase efficiency so clinicians can save more lives and strengthen systems for the future.

From Rapid Response to System Change


2022: Immediate Response


When the full-scale invasion began, GRM’s rapid response team entered Ukraine within days. Working alongside the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO), we conducted nationwide hospital assessments and provided urgent support through:

  • Front line surgical teams embedded in hospitals (724 surgeries performed)
  • Medevac operations across eastern and western Ukraine (79 patients transported)
  • Trauma training for over 1,300 clinicians, nurses, firefighters, and volunteer medics
  • Critical supplies: 1,000 individual first aid kits (IFAKs), critical care monitors, blood warmers, ambulances, and ultrasound devices

2023–2024: Professional Exchange


As the crisis deepened, we shifted from direct care to professional exchange and training, partnering with Ukraine’s Ministry of Health, WHO, and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Health Committee. Together with major academic hospitals, we created fellowships and exchanges that linked bedside care in Ukraine with immersive experiences abroad:

  • Ukraine Burn hospitals partnered with Temple University and Harborview Medical Center (Seattle)
  • Dnipro Emergency Hospital trauma surgeons trained at the University of Chicago
  • Kharkiv Regional Hospital physicians trained at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Boston Medical Center

These 18-month programs created more than training for the 50 clinicians participating: they produced protocols, teaching models, and system improvements that now shape surgical and emergency care across Ukraine.

Knowledge Shared, Knowledge Adopted

 

In 2024, GRM and Ukrainian colleagues co-authored the Acute Care Reference Guide, with protocols for trauma surgery, emergency medicine, and burn mass casualty response. The Ministry of Health has since adopted the burn protocols nationally, making them the standard for all Ukrainian burn centers.

The guide — a labor of love built through 18 months of exchanges — is available open access on our website so clinicians everywhere can benefit. Acute Care Reference Guide Ukraine (English)    Acute Care Reference Guide Ukraine (Ukrainian)

Data That Drives Change

 

Improving care requires evidence. Together with Ukrainian partners and WHO, GRM has helped launch the foundation for data-driven medical response:

  • Phase I (2022): 730 patients documented through GRM emergency teams with analysis of injury patterns
  • Phase II (2023): Expanded dataset piloted at Kharkiv Regional Hospital 
  • Phase III (2024–2025): Multi-hospital registry integration to support national quality assurance

This data initiative is already shaping protocol development, triage decisions, and system-wide improvements.

Innovation at the Bedside

 

  • Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS): In cooperation with WHO, GRM has distributed 50+ Butterfly iQ handheld ultrasound devices to hospitals in Ukraine and delivered training-of-trainers education. Across the wider coalition, approximately 900 devices are now in clinicians’ hands, enabling ~50,000 scans (average 2:19 per scan) and training for ~1,500 clinicians. These portable tools support FAST and RUSH exams, ultrasound-guided vascular access, and nerve blocks—bringing rapid diagnostics and pain control to the bedside. GRM is also supporting Dr. Oksana Popova and the Ehling Training Institute in their groundbreaking work advancing bedside ultrasound use.
  • Telehealth Support: From WhatsApp consults during the first months of war to secure telehealth channels in 2024, GRM has enabled Ukrainian clinicians to access real-time support on complex trauma, burns, toxicology, and critical care.
  • Frontline Surgical Training (2025–2027): With partners including Razom and the Ukrainian Medical Academy, GRM is co-developing the War Surgery Teams Course — a national standard for front line surgical teams. This program will strengthen Ukraine’s trauma surgical capacity during conflict and build a foundation for peacetime trauma care.

Healing the Invisible Wounds

 

Wars don’t end with the last shot — the fight continues in the mind and heart for years to come.

In partnership with Home Base (Mass General Brigham) and Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, GRM is co-developing U-INSPIRE: Ukraine’s first national Brain Health Hub. Modeled after our 2025 Invisible Wounds exchanges, this hub will address traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress, and the neurological effects of drones and blast exposure.

By 2026, U-INSPIRE will provide:

  • Advanced clinical care for veterans, service members, and families
  • Nationwide training for Ukrainian clinicians
  • A platform for international research into the neurological impacts of modern war

Looking Forward

 

In November 2025, GRM will help lead pre-conference workshops at the WHO Ukraine Wound Care Conference in Kyiv. These sessions will bring burn and orthopedic trauma experts together with Ukrainian clinicians to co-develop practical tools such as checklists for burn transfer decisions and protocols for trauma wound prioritization.

This next step reflects our philosophy: every gathering is an opportunity to co-create practical solutions that improve patient outcomes and strengthen systems.

Open Access Resources

 

Stand With Ukraine

 

GRM stands proudly with Ukraine. From emergency response to system change, we will continue to advance surgical care, strengthen clinical leadership, and share lessons globally.

Support Our Work — Help us equip clinicians and build Ukraine’s future capacity.  

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