About the project

“FARMA” is a volunteer project which main goal is to improve field and pre-hospital blood transfusion in Ukraine. We creating kits for field blood transfusion from donor to recipient in harsh environment where complications with supply of CS-LTOWB may occur.

Volunteers packing FARMA kits

The kits are assembled by the group of volunteers in Kyiv using components available on the market of Ukraine and neighboring European countries.

The FARMA kits are supplied to medical services of military units and are also used to train military medics.

Project background

To begin with we took several existing versions of a BTK including the North American Rescue® brand to model the Ukrainian version. With the onset of russia’s full invasion in February 2022 for major cities in dire jeopardy of prolonged siege, transfusion kits as well as tactical medical equipment were in exceedingly short supply. Previously we attempted to import several models but supplies were limited, costs were high and customs control and shipping procedures were difficult to overcome creating unacceptable delays in deliveries as many local TCCC training organizations required kits for instructions and forward stabilization points were forced to build kits from existing supplies. The results were not encouraging as even blood collection bags were not always available and blood was often collected in containers without Citrate Phosphate Dextrose Adenine (CPDA-1) and even cases where some attempted person to person transfusion.

After reviewing the available versions from outside Ukraine and considering where the kits were most likely to be utilized it was determined that a full Ukrainian version should be a stand-alone kit for use at Stabilization Points who conceivably might have supply issues and the eventual use by SOF medics and even delivery by drone in situations such as AzovStal*, will guarantee the safe delivery of blood in an austere environment.

* Last Stand at Azovstal: Inside the Siege That Shaped the Ukraine War: nytimes.com

Why pre-hospital blood transfusion is so important?

60%+of preventable deaths on the battlefield are associated with critical bleeding, according to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine

Prehospital blood transfusion can significantly improve this statistic and minimize the number of preventable deaths. Currently, the Ukraine is undergoing many changes in the legislation and therefore establishing logistical processes to meet the needs of the frontline with CS-LTOWB delivered from the blood banks, as well as organizing state-certified training for qualified military medical personnel to perform the transfusion procedure.

Blood transfusion kits are not a replacement for a proper blood chain, but only a back-up option in case of complications with getting blood products in harsh or disaster conditions.

If military unit works under conditions where they do not have access to CS-LTOWB – the existing stocks are exhausted, logistics are disrupted, equipment (blood storage unit, warmer, etc.) is missing or out of order – medics can use the kits to collect blood from an available healthy donor.

This approach allows combat medics to have all the necessary prepared and packed equipment, to perform blood transfusion when required and save as many lives as possible.

Blood product priority for transfusion

  1. 1Cold-stored low-titer O whole blood (CS-LTOWB)
  2. 2Pre-screened low-titer O fresh whole blood (LTOWB)This is where FARMA kits work
  3. 3Plasma, red blood cells (RBCs) and platelets in a 1:1:1 ratio
  4. 4Plasma and RBCs in a 1:1 ratio
  5. 5Plasma or RBCs alone

Packaging process

The kit is carefully assembled and packaged by a group of volunteers with expertise in tactical medicine using a household vacuum cleaner in a tight plastic bag that prevents movement and damage of the components inside the package.

The donor’s and recipient’s parts of a kit are placed in different sections of a single package. The list of components of each kit is printed on colored paper and placed inside the package so that its contents can be read before opening the package. The expiration dates of the medicinal products included in the kit are indicated.

Packaging materials

Packaging materials include thick plastic film, zip-lock bags 50 x 70 mm (for individual packaging of gloves and rubber disposable tourniquets), zip-lock bags 100 x 160 mm (for rapid test kits), rubber bands 20 x 1 2 x 1.2 mm (for fixing disposable tourniquets), etc.

Our partners

FARMA and Ukrainian Transplant Coordination Center representatives

Ukrainian Transplant Coordination Center

A memorandum of cooperation was signed between the FARMA project under the auspices of “Sidus Vitae” and the Ukrainian Transplant Coordination Center. We supply blood transfusion training kits and assist in conducting pre-hospital hemotransfusion training for state-certified units of the security and defense forces of Ukraine.

Thanks to the high-quality training of medical personnel and the use of high-quality medical equipment at the front line, we can personally thank our brave defenders for their tireless work that brings Ukraine closer to victory every day.

utcc.gov.ua

UA First Aid

The volunteer initiative UA First Aid, which has been actively responding to russia’s full scale invasion and has been working since early March 2022 to meet the needs of the front line, is a good friend and partner of the “FARMA” project.

This terrific people helping the project with procurement, organization of the packaging process, administrative issues, distribution of the kits and many other things.

You can support “FARMA” project by making a donation on their monobank saving box. This donation will help us collect more kits and deliver them to the units as soon as possible.

Support the Project
uafirstaid.com

Blood Agents

Since 2015, Blood Agents has been promoting free, voluntary and regular blood donation in Ukraine.

The project’s volunteers are on duty at blood centers every week, organize corporate blood drives in companies, cover urgent needs, conduct information campaigns and creative projects to recruit and retain donors.

Since the project’s inception, more than 15 thousand donors have donated blood with the Agents. Since the beginning of the large-scale war, the Agents have been buying tactical medicine items for the Defense Forces.

Support Blood Agents bloodagents.com

Authors of the project

The core team of the project consists of volunteer tactical medicine trainers certified by NAEMT, as well as the UA First Aid team (most of whom, by the way, are regular blood donors).

  • Anastasia

    Project Manager

    Anastasia — pharmacist, volunteer, trainer. If you have any questions that are not answered on the website, or want to offer collaboration, send her an email on

    farma.btk.ua@gmail.com
  • Stamp of the public organization Sidus Vitae

    Brain center

    The ideological and administrative basis of the project — public organization “Sidus Vitae”.

  • Hell Otters TCCC emblem

    Team

    The instructor team. Training soldiers in the use of kits and directly participates in assembly, improvement and quality control of the final product.

  • Kostyantyn Volianiuk

    Media and equipment

    Kostyantyn Volianiuk — the man who made this site, project assets and many other things for “FARMA” project.

FAQ

Who can get the kits?

The kits can be obtained by military personnel with proven skills in the use of blood transfusion at the pre-hospital stage after filling out a Google form, which you can find in the relevant section of this site. Also, a simplified training version of a kit can be obtained by certified tactical medicine training centers and, in fact, military units if they have personnel who can conduct the internal training of a sufficient quality.

Can I buy the kits?

At this moment our blood transfusion kits are not available for sale.

The priority of the FARMA volunteer project is to meet the needs of the medical services of military units and to train active military personnel in proper blood transfusion free of charge. The components of the kits are purchased and assembled on a voluntary basis, so it would be incorrect for us to use them commercially.

If you are able and willing to support the project financially and thank our volunteers for their tireless work, please make a donation to our monobank. This will help to increase production volumes and, therefore, the amount of support for our brave defenders.