A C130J aircraft of the Air Force has embarked the ambulance with a baby girl, a rapid response vehicle, and healthcare operators on board.

The urgent medical transport, from Ancona Falconara Airport to Rome Ciampino Airport, in favour of a two-year-old child, carried out with a C-130J from the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa, concluded today, 17 March.

The C-130J, the Italian Air Force's only aircraft capable of carrying up to two ambulances due to its particular size and equipment, departed from Pisa in the early afternoon and reached the Marche region's airport. Here, it promptly embarked the ambulance carrying the child, as well as a medical car and the medical team. The latter, composed of healthcare professionals and drivers, was necessary to provide the child with adequate assistance during the flight. The young patient, in imminent danger of her life, needed to travel while remaining in the ambulance and thus receive specialist support even during the aerial “run”; hence the request received by the Air Force to arrange the special transport.

Having previously been hospitalised at the “G. Salesi” Hospital in Ancona, the little girl thus arrived at Rome Ciampino military airport at 6 p.m. local time. From there, she was able to continue her journey by ambulance, reaching the Bambino Gesù Paediatric Hospital in Rome shortly afterwards to receive specialised medical care. At this point, the C-130J was able to return to Pisa, landing shortly afterwards at the military airport of the 46th Air Brigade, where the aircraft is stationed, and resuming operational readiness in service to the community.

The aeromedical evacuation flight was requested by the Prefecture of Ancona and authorised by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, and was then promptly arranged and coordinated by the Apex Situations Room of the Air Force Command – 1st Air Region of Milan. This latter, an operational room of the Italian Air Force, indeed has among its duties the activation and management of urgent aeromedical transports, by ordering the take-off of aircraft that the Armed Force keeps ready, 24 hours a day, in various bases, for this type of need.

Missions of this type require acting with the utmost speed, guaranteed by meticulous organisation and well-rehearsed procedures. Hundreds of flight hours are carried out every year by Air Force aircraft for urgent medical transports, both for people in danger of dying and for teams and/or organs, for humanitarian flights or for search and rescue missions. Crews from the 31st Wing of Ciampino, the 15th Wing of Cervia and their dependent SAR (Search and Rescue) Centres, the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa and the 14th Wing of Pratica di Mare are ready 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, to take off at very short notice, with equipment and personnel capable of operating even in complex weather conditions, for any destination in Italy and abroad.