When the war began, Ukrainian hospitals found themselves fighting two battles: one against injuries from battles, and the other against infection. Across operating rooms, the simplest gaps had deadly consequences: surgical instruments too dull to sterilize, missing infection-control steps and a lack of training that turned preventable infections into tragedy.
That is where Pack the Plane stepped in. Founded by Dr. Vitaliy Poylin, a Ukrainian-born American surgeon, the program delivers medical equipment and practical training to hospitals across Ukraine. Each Mission, pounds of instruments, supplies and protective gear—lands with one mission: to help physicians save lives, safely.
Dr. Poylin’s connection to Ukraine runs deep. At 14, he started studies to become a nurse. He studied in Vinnytsia for his nursing and then medical degrees before his family sought refuge in the United States as the Soviet Union collapsed. Though already a doctor, he had to start over—learning English, earning a BA at the University of Massachusetts, then attending medical school again at the University of Wisconsin. Following he held residencies and fellowships at Harvard’s Beth Israel Hospital and the University of Minnesota where he trained to and learned that in the operating rooms is where precision and protocols are everything.
Those lessons now guide his work back home. “Timeouts” before surgery, common in the U.S. were introduced to Ukrainian teams, reducing complications by ensuring every team member checks key details before the first incision. Surgeons learned that sharpening instruments and properly sterilizing them can drastically cut infection rates without requiring expensive equipment. In Ukraine, these changes have saved lives. Hospitals like Kyiv Regional Hospital and the National Cancer Institute now use infection control methods introduced through Pack the Plane. Local surgeons have embraced what Dr. Poylin calls “sensible, real-world adaptation,” solutions that fit resource-limited settings but uphold the highest medical standards. This work proves that change doesn’t always need a billion-dollar budget, just the right tools, the right training and a network of people who care.
Your support helps keep this mission flying. Every donation helps send another team with physicians and funds another training, that equip another hospital where physicians work under fire but never give up. Because during the war, in the operating rooms of Ukraine, infection control isn’t just a procedure, it’s the difference between losing and saving a life.
