Aeronautics, double intervention saves life in the middle of the night for two small patients

Two urgent medical transports were carried out during the night in favor of a five-year-old girl and an infant of 3 days

A C-130J aircraft of the 46 ^ Air Brigade of Pisa and a Falcon 900 of the 31 ° Stormo of Ciampino rose in the middle of the night for an urgent medical transport in favor of a five-year-old girl and a newborn of only three days in imminent danger of life.

The first request, which came from the Prefecture of Bari, concerned a child in need of transport in a special ambulance that allows treatment in the ECMO technique (Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation - Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation). The Air Operations Command alerted the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa where a C-130J, the only one capable of ensuring this type of transport, flew to Bari to board the ambulance and the medical team of the Giovanni XXIII Hospital where the little girl was hospitalized. In the middle of the night, the C-130J took off for Ciampino airport where it landed after about an hour. From here, the child, under close observation by the medical staff, was transported by ambulance to the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome to receive the necessary treatment.

The second request came from the Prefecture of Catania which, in this case, alerted the Top Situation Room of the Air Squad Command. The Falcon 900 of the 31 ° Stormo di Ciampino, took off in the middle of the night towards Catania to embark a newborn of only 3 days of life in need of urgent care. Due to the particular conditions of the little girl, the Air Force crew first made a stopover in Genoa to collect a medical team from the Gaslini Hospital who constantly monitored the baby's vital functions during transport. The Falcon 900, arrived in Catania and embarked the child with her parents and then landed in the Ligurian capital about an hour later.

Both aircraft, after the two emergency transport operations, respectively returned to Pisa and Ciampino.

Missions of this type need maximum timeliness. As shown by the two transports carried out, the Air Force Departments are available to the community 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with vehicles and crews able to operate in any meteorological condition to ensure urgent transport not only of people in imminent danger of life, but also of organs, medical teams or ambulances, just as happened tonight.

Aeronautics, double intervention saves life in the middle of the night for two small patients