Italian Air Force: Urgent medical flight from Athens to Rome with a C-130J aircraft of the 46th Air Brigade

A seven-year-old child in imminent danger of life travelled aboard an Italian Air Force aircraft inside an ambulance, attended by a team from the “Bambino Gesù” hospital: he will receive treatment thanks to a cooperation programme between the Italian and Greek National Transplant Centres

The emergency medical transport of a seven-year-old child from Athens to Ciampino, carried out using a C130J aircraft of the Italian Air Force, concluded at 19:14 today.

 The young patient, of Greek nationality, in imminent danger to life due to a very severe heart condition, needed to be transferred urgently to the “Bambino Gesù” Paediatric Hospital in Rome. Specifically, the type of transport required the use of a C-130J from the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa, an aircraft suitable for loading the ambulance in which the child travelled, monitored and assisted on extracorporeal circulation (ECMO) by a medical team consisting of nurses, intensivists and cardiac surgeons.

The life-saving flight was requested by the Greek Embassy in Rome and authorised by the Aerospace Operations Command (COA) of the Italian Air Force, which immediately involved the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa, one of the units that carries out the operational readiness service for this kind of mission. The child will be treated thanks to a cooperation programme between the National Transplant Centre and the corresponding Greek competent authority, the Hellenic Transplant OrganizationAccording to the agreement, which has been in effect since 2005, the most urgent Greek patients, particularly paediatric ones, can be transplanted in our country, while unused organs from donors in Greece can be allocated to Italian patients awaiting transplantation.

Once the military crew had carried out all the necessary procedures, the aircraft, which took off from Pisa airport, initially headed to Ciampino, from where it then departed for Athens at around 11 this morning. Here, the child, on board the ambulance, was immediately loaded onto the aircraft for emergency transport. Following the landing at Ciampino Airport, which took place shortly after 19:00, the ambulance headed to the “Bambino Gesù” paediatric hospital in Rome for subsequent admission while awaiting a transplant.

The Italian Air Force's flight units are available to the public 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with aircraft and crews capable of operating even in complex weather conditions, to ensure the urgent transport not only of people in imminent danger of death, but also of organs, medical teams or ambulances.

Hundreds of flight hours are carried out each year for this type of operation by aircraft from the 31st Wing of Ciampino, the 14th Wing of Pratica di Mare, the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa, and by helicopters from the 15th Wing of Cervia.