The Air Force C-130J plane landed in Ciampino yesterday, transporting an ambulance from Catania carrying a four-month-old baby girl in imminent danger of life for her subsequent hospitalization in the “Bambino Gesù” hospital in Rome.
The request for transport, as happens in these cases, was received by the Prefecture of Catania at the Situation Room at the Summit of the Air Squad Command, the operations room of the Air Force which has among its tasks that of organizing and managing this kind of transport throughout the national territory in coordination with the Prefectures.
The Summit Situation Room has therefore activated one of the assets that the Armed Force keeps ready 24 hours a day for this kind of need, a C-24J aircraft of the 130th Air Brigade of Pisa, characterized by the ability to embark those patients who during the transfer they need the equipment in the ambulance.
Yesterday morning the plane took off from Pisa in the direction of Ciampino airport to board the ambulance and a medical team from the “Bambino Gesù” hospital.
Departed in the same morning from the Lazio town, the C-130J landed at Catania Fontanarossa airport. After the operations necessary for the transfer of the child by ambulance from the local hospital to the airport and the boarding of the ambulance itself, at 17.20 the aircraft took off towards Ciampino, from where the little patient was transported to the "Bambino Gesù" .
Missions of this type need maximum timeliness. Through its Flight Departments, the Air Force provides vehicles and crews ready to take off at any time and able to operate in any weather conditions to ensure the urgent transport not only of people in imminent danger of life, as happened yesterday , but also of organs and medical teams for transplants. Every year thousands of flight times are carried out by the 31 ° Stormo of Ciampino, the 14 ° Stormo di Pratica di Mare and the 46a Air Brigade of Pisa, always on the front lines in case of emergency.