A 66-year-old man resident in Congo was repatriated during the night for serious medical reasons. During the night, a Falcon 900 of the 31st Wing of the Italian Air Force transported a 66-year-old man, an Italian citizen resident in Congo, suffering from a serious medical condition, from the international airport of Pointe Noire, in Congo, to Milan Linate airport. The humanitarian flight was requested by the Italian Embassy in Congo and authorised by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers to ensure the patient received the necessary treatment in a specialist hospital facility in the Piacenza area. The mission was coordinated by the Top-Level Situation Room of the Italian Air Force, which ordered the takeoff of one of the Armed Force's crews that, at various bases distributed across the national territory, are on standby day and night for this type of activity in favour of Italian citizens. At the time of boarding, the Italian Ambassador to Congo, Dr Andrea Mazzella, was also present. During the flight the man, who was loaded on a stretcher, was assisted by a team of doctors from the Clinique Guenin Pointe Noire where the patient had been hospitalized.
Air Force transport crews and aircraft are ready for takeoff 365 days a year to ensure, wherever requested and deemed necessary for urgent reasons, the medical transport of persons in imminent danger of life or seriously ill, as well as the transport of organs and medical teams. Hundreds of operations of this type are carried out each year by the Italian Air Force, whose assets also have the capacity to embark specific medical equipment, such as thermal cradles, or even ambulances with patients on board. The service covers the entire national territory, including the islands, and is also available to our compatriots abroad, as happened tonight.
