SAMARITAN'S PURSE DEPLOYS EMERGENCY FIELD HOSPITAL TO UKRAINE

BOONE, N.C., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As conflict in Ukraine escalates, Samaritan's Purse is deploying an Emergency Field Hospital to the region to meet the critical medical needs. Disaster response specialists have been on the ground in Poland, Romania, and Moldova since last week conducting rapid needs assessments and preparing a strategic response.

Tomorrow, the international Christian relief organization will airlift an Emergency Field Hospital and a team of disaster response specialists—including doctors, nurses, and additional support staff—to Poland on its DC-8 aircraft. The field hospital will then be transported to Ukraine where it will provide specialized trauma care to people impacted by the conflict. This unit will have the capacity to treat more than 100 patients each day, and it will be made up of 30 in-patient beds, an operating room, and Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

A 747 cargo plane will depart next week, carrying additional components of the Emergency Field Hospital and the equipment to establish two additional medical clinics. These clinics will be deployed to areas receiving an influx of refugees. Assessment teams continue to work to identify the most strategic locations for these units. These health clinics will equip Samaritan's Purse medical staff to meet minor trauma needs and provide general medical care for some 200 patients each day.

"Ukrainian families are hurting and in desperate need of physical aid and prayer during this difficult time," said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan's Purse. "We are deploying life-saving medical care to aid people who are suffering. We want to meet the needs of these families in their darkest moments while pointing them to the light and hope of Jesus Christ."  

MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES

Thursday, March 3^rd

• 2:00 p.m. – Loading of the Samaritan's Purse DC-8 at the ministry's hangar located at 1 Samaritan Lane, Greensboro, N.C.

Friday, March 4^th

• 6:00 a.m. – Interview Opportunities
• Interview Edward Graham, vice president of operations for Samaritan's Purse, departing for Ukraine on the DC-8 aircraft
• Interview Dr. Elliott Tenpenny, director of the international health unit for Samaritan's Purse, traveling to Ukraine to manage the Emergency Field Hospital
• 6:45 a.m. – DC-8 Takeoff

Ukraine Response Press Kit
B-roll of Previous International Relief Work
B-roll of Previous Emergency Field Hospital Deployments
Submit a Media Request

In addition to medical care, Samaritan's Purse is preparing to distribute 20 tons of food inside Ukraine. Disaster Assistance Response Team members have also begun distributing water and food in Poland as Ukrainian families cross the border. Samaritan's Purse will continue to assess additional needs in the countries surrounding Ukraine—ready to respond in further capacities to aid hurting families.

Since 1996, Samaritan's Purse has distributed more than 12 million shoebox gifts to children in Ukraine through its Operation Christmas Child program. The organization consistently works in partnership with more than 3,000 churches to share the Hope of Jesus Christ with communities across the country. 

Based in Boone, North Carolina, Samaritan's Purse responds to the physical and spiritual needs of individuals in crisis situations in Jesus' Name—especially in locations where few others are working. Led by President and CEO Franklin Graham, Samaritan's Purse works in more than 100 countries to provide aid to victims of war, disease, disaster, poverty, famine and persecution. For more information, visit SamaritansPurse.org.

SOURCE Samaritan's Purse