A specially chartered plane departed from Ben Gurion Airport Thursday at 6 AM, carrying 40 medical personnel, EMTs, paramedics, doctors, psychologists, and therapists, who will join United Hatzalah’s 15 volunteers already on the ground, assisting Ukrainian refugees in the country since Sunday. The plane, sponsored by United Hatzalah in partnership with El Al, is also bringing 15 tons of medical supplies, food, and humanitarian aid, for Ukrainian refugees at the Moldova border.
“Our initial team had two purposes,” explains Dov Maisel, Hatzalah’s Vice President of Operations who is on the flight. “They were tasked with assisting refugees as much as they could at the border crossings and in Kishinev, but they were also tasked with assessing the needs on the ground and laying the groundwork for this larger mission. Our initial estimate was that we would need to send 30 people in total. After our jump team landed and saw the humanitarian crisis developing in Moldova, we raised that number and are now bringing 40 people and 15 tons of supplies, covering everything from food, warm blankets, clothes, and hand warmers, to feminine hygiene products and diapers.”
When Israeli companies heard about the relief effort they rushed to help. Food supplies were donated by Osem, that sent 10 pallets of dry food, and was joined by Dr. Fischer that donated 9 pallets of hygiene products, and SLE that donated 15 pallets of medications. Donated products were also received from Hashachar Ha’ole, Prinir, Wissotzky, Soglowek, Strauss, Filtuna, Leiman Schlussel, Materna, Latet, Appsflyer, Innovation Africa, Diplomat Israel, We Cannot Stand Silent, Nestle, ResQbattery, the Manufacturers Association of Israel, and Sano.
Once the plane lands in Romania, the medical team will disembark with the supplies and make their way by land transport to the border with Moldova and then to Chisinau to connect with United Hatzalah’s team on the ground. The plane will then turn around and fly back to Israel, but it won’t be flying empty.
“We are bringing home approximately 150 Ukrainian refugees who have Israeli citizenship,” said Eli Beer President and Founder of United Hatzalah. “The complexity of this operation is immense. It involves travel permits, diplomatic relations, and travel between three countries by land and by air and there was an incredible amount of logistics involved. Our teams both in Israel and Moldova have been working around the clock on this operation to get everything ready. This will be one of our proudest moments as an organization.”
“The situation on the border with Ukraine is stressful,” said David Krispil, Deputy Vice President of Operations for United Hatzalah and team commander of the Moldova-Ukraine border relief team. “We are assisting approximately 1,500 Ukrainian refugees per day, providing them with food, humanitarian aid, and free medical treatment when needed. We have even begun to teach refugees first aid and CPR courses so that they can assist themselves, their families, and each other as they continue to their destinations. We will be using the additional supplies and staff to set up round-the-clock emergency medical clinics and field hospitals at the border crossings at Palanca and in the north near Moligev, as well as in the capital city of Chisinau where many of the refugees have come, and we are assisting all refugees regardless of race or religion. We are ecstatic that this flight will enable us to bring some of these refugees home so that they can begin their lives anew.”
To support United Hatzalah’s efforts to help Ukrainian refugees in Moldova please click here.
