Support Ukraine:
Operation Caffeinated Vikings
Help Us Send Captive Audience's
Emergency Medical & Disaster Response Team
to Help Ukrainian Refugees
Where It Began
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The Russian invasion into Ukraine has seen countless lives turned upside down overnight, with attacks on evacuating civilians and reports of vital lifelines to refugees, families, and children cut off. In the past two weeks, the Captive Audience team has received requests from Ukrainians to evacuate a 2-week-old starving baby who was without food or water for 30 hours. Another request came to help excavate 200 Christians trapped in the basement of a burning church, after a rocket demolished the church building above them.
These are just two examples of many amidst the worst humanitarian crisis Europe has seen since World War II. The scale of the Ukrainian crisis can be overwhelming, and it’s hard to know how to help.
Captive Audience is an organization with deep ancestral ties to Ukraine. This team has worked closely with towns, churches, synagogues, UN/EU missions, missionaries, orphanages, and other community groups to provide humanitarian aid in Ukraine and other parts of the region since 2009.
We have been directly requested by several of those same communities to provide boots-on-the-ground emergency aid and training in emergency response skills. But we need your help to get there.
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By supporting Captive Audience, you’re offering tangible assistance to equip Ukrainians on the ground.
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#OperationCaffeinatedVikings
Dollar Goal: $30,000
Our Mission Is Humanitarian
Our mission is humanitarian. We bring medical aid, emergency medical response training and Critical Incident Stress Management to the Internationally Displaced Persons (IDP) to stabilize wounded and traumatized people and lower the number of deaths and PTSD cases. We are not stopping at merely shipping supplies or even at being the first responders to the crisis.
Our mission is to train medical, psychological, and emergency quick response teams as force multipliers – replicating our capabilities on a grand scale as a permanent presence in Ukraine and in the newly displaced refugee communities.
Who We Are
Captive Audience (CA) is composed of trained professionals specializing in emergency response, international crisis support, and disaster psychological first aid. With over 30 years of experience across the team, CA provides aid along each step of the timeline: before, during, and after.
BEFORE: We bring medical aid and emergency medical response training to the refugees and Ukrainian crisis response personnel.
DURING: We assist in the safe passage of Americans and other refugees from Ukraine.
AFTER: We bring Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) to the Internationally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to stabilize traumatized people and lower the number of PTSD cases.
Vital Needs
The timeline of the Ukrainian crisis is unknown, so the team plans to conduct several rotations in and out of country.
Your donations will help pay for our first boots-on-the-ground travel and operational costs, including:
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Airline tickets
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Accommodations
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Food
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Rental car
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Operational costs at home and on the ground
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Overseas shipping and purchasing costs for emergency medical equipment and other forms of aid
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Emerging needs as expressed by Ukrainians and IDPs on the ground
Providing Remote Support Since Day 1
Since February 24, 2022, our team has been receiving and responding to requests from local communities and organizations on the ground.
So far, we have responded to 100+ requests for assistance remotely, including safe-passage, medical aid, Critical Incident Stress Management, and training in emergency management.
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Assisted with the safe passage of dozens of refugees from Ukraine, with more in the works.
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Worked with a Ukrainian psychologist in Kyiv to assist with the overwhelming number of mental health needs.
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Coordinated international funding to equip Ukrainian crisis response personnel with protective equipment and 100+ Individual First Aid Kits (IFAK) trauma kits.
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Provided remote support to assist with victims of sexual assault and violence cases found in those fleeing from the war.
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Formed a Ukrainian team to track requests for medical gear and specialized equipment, like thermoses.
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Conducted dozens of web-based emergency management and medical trauma response trainings (with more in the works).
IFAK's Delivered
​While Captive Audience has been able to provide remote aid since Day 1, there are still numerous unfulfilled requests for in-person trainings, in-person support, and supplies.
Help us meet these requests!
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With Funding
Our team on the ground will provide direct support in many areas of expertise, includings:
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Critical Incident Stress Management support and training for processing trauma (to limit PTSD cases)
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Safe passage planning, support, and logistics
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Emergency Medical Support
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Emergency Medical training - including of improvised medical equipment
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Contingency Planning and Emergency Response training
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Border crossing assistance
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Translation services
Every donation brings Ukrainian refugees one step closer to obtaining vital medical supplies, emergency response skills, and a team of trained professionals to bring them hope.
Donating is a direct, tangible way to save lives and affect hundreds if not thousands of Ukrainians and Internationally Displaced Persons who need help right now.
Thank You
With current donations from individuals and organizations, we have already mobilized:
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1.5 mil Euros for protective equipment for 4,000 Ukrainian crisis response personnel
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A pallet of medical supplies and stop-the-bleed kits (Captive Audience is still raising funds to provide overseas shipping for this equipment.)
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Donations of satellite phones and survival gear.
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A generous donation from Grim Workshops of hunting, fishing, trapping, and fire building supplies. (As supply chains are cut off, and food becomes scarce, supplies like these save lives.)
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Pre-deployment survival supplies for the Captive Audience team.
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TL;DR
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Captive Audience (CA) has a history in the region since 2009 and so has been directly requested by multiple communities/organizations on the ground in Ukraine/across the region to provide emergency medical, and psychological first aid training, and similar specialized support. Said communities include, but are not limited to towns, churches, and synagogues who (understandably) do not have the money/resources to pay for CA to come over.
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This team is composed of trained emergency medical and disaster response professionals who are very good at their jobs and know what they’re doing. (AKA, we’re not sending Jonny next door to do the job.)
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This team will be a force multiplier on the ground – not only will they bring their own hands-on experience to respond to requests for aid on the ground, but they are capable instructors who can share their skills and train people across multiple skill levels.
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Aid will be both supporting CA on the ground/at home as well as providing equipment and medical aid as needed. Current game plan is multiple rotations into the region, with stints back at the US to regroup, resupply, etc. (AKA, we’re looking at funding for the first of multiple trips, possibly over a long timeframe.)
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CA is already responding to a host of needs remotely, but there are critical tasks which can’t be accomplished via a computer, and there are also vital aspects of training that can only be effectively conveyed in person.
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This is a direct, tangible way to save lives and affect hundreds if not thousands of Ukrainians and IDPs who need help right now.
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#OperationCaffeinatedVikings #OperationCaffeinatedVikingsUA #OCV #OCVUA #CaptiveAudience #CaptiveAudienceUA #CaptiveAudienceOCV #CAStandsWithUkraine #AidtoUkraine #StandWithUkraine #RussiaInvadesUkraine #Ukraine #RussiaUkraineWar
Operation Caffeinated Vikings