Press release no. 24/2020 URGENT MEDICAL TRANSPORT – NUN REPATRIATED FROM THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO BY MILITARY AIR FORCE AIRCRAFT A KC-767A transport aircraft from the 14th Wing at Pratica di Mare completed, this afternoon, Monday 31 August, the bio-containment transfer of an Italian nun from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where she had been carrying out missionary work. The transfer was requested of the Italian Air Force’s High-Level Situation Room by the Prime Minister’s Office, which had in turn been approached by the Italian Embassy in Kinshasa. The decision to carry out the bio-containment transport of the patient, who was suffering from respiratory difficulties, was taken following coordination with the health authorities at the “Lazzaro Spallanzani” Hospital in Rome, where the patient had been admitted. The aircraft took off from Pratica di Mare Airport shortly after midnight and landed in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at 7.20 am Italian time. Once the patient had boarded, the aircraft took off again, arriving at Pratica di Mare Airport at approximately 4.00 pm. From there, the woman was transferred by an Italian Air Force ambulance, specially equipped to transport patients requiring bio-containment. The entire operation was carried out by a team from the Pratica di Mare Main Infirmary of the Italian Air Force Medical Service, which specialises in bio-containment transport. In response to the coronavirus emergency, the Ministry of Defence has made personnel and state-of-the-art equipment available to the relevant institutions; this equipment is used for a wide range of missions, from search and rescue to transport and support for special operations. All vehicles are equipped and authorised for bio-containment transport. The strong synergy between the Civil Protection Department (PCDM), the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health and the Civil Protection Agency (ProCiv) has continued uninterrupted since the start of the COVID emergency. In fact, the Armed Forces have made military infrastructure, distributed throughout the peninsula, available to the public, as well as providing a contingent of their medical and nursing staff from the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Carabinieri for the various operations required. Furthermore, the Joint Forces Operational Command, which oversees and coordinates all joint military activities, monitors the situation of Italian military personnel in all national and international missions and operations, issuing specific precautionary measures to protect them. The Armed Forces play their part within the “national system” through the ongoing management of the health emergency in coordination with the Department of Civil Protection and the Ministry of Health.

Download the activity video