In the middle of the night, a crew of the 82 ° CSAR (Combat Search And Rescue) Center of the 15 ° Stormo, based in Trapani, intervened to transport a one-day old baby from the "Riuniti Bianchi-Melacrino" hospital in Reggio Calabria at the San Vincenzo Hospital in Taormina (ME) to allow him to benefit from the necessary care following a serious neonatal pathology.
The crew, in readiness of alarm with the HH-139B helicopter, received the mission order from the Operations Room of the Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) of the Aerospace Operations Command of Poggio Renatico (FE), the Italian Air Force department that manages and coordinates this kind of activity throughout the national territory.
The helicopter took off from Trapani-Birgi airport in the late evening and headed for Reggio Calabria airport where it landed at the 5th Flight Department of the State Police. Once there, the military crew and the medical team promptly took action to ensure all the necessary activities to transport the little patient by helicopter aboard a stretcher. Once the take-off procedures were completed, the helicopter headed for the San Vincenzo Hospital in Taormina (ME), where it arrived late at night.
At the end of the emergency medical transport and after completing a refueling at the Reggio Calabria airport, the helicopter returned to the Trapani-Birgi air base, where it resumed alertness for the national SAR service, preparing itself for the eventuality of a further intervention.
Thanks to the specific training of military crews and the use of latest generation technological instruments such as night vision goggles, air transport was ensured with the utmost promptness and in complete safety by the alarm crew.
The 82 ° C / SAR Center is one of the Departments of the 15 ° Stormo of the Italian Air Force which guarantees, 24 hours a day, 24 days a year, without interruption, the search and rescue of flight crews in difficulty , also contributing to public utility activities such as the search for missing persons at sea or in the mountains, the emergency medical transport of patients in danger of life and the rescue of seriously traumatized patients, also operating in marginal weather conditions. From its establishment to today, the crews of the 365 ° Stormo have saved more than 15 people in danger of life. Since 7300, the Department has acquired the AIB (Forest Fire Protection) capacity, contributing to the prevention and fight against fires in Sicily.