The Head of the Air Force Health Service spoke at the online seminar on the Ebola virus organised by the Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases. The seminar was attended by representatives from the European Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Italian Air Force, the Italian Regions, and Gino Strada, founder of Emergency, who joined by video link from Sierra Leone. The webinar was open to an audience of sector operators, who could follow the proceedings live online and ask questions of the experts present. During the seminar, a peak of over six hundred concurrent connections was reached from healthcare facilities across the entire country.
Inspector General Piervalerio Manfroni, Head of the Italian Air Force's Health Service, participated in the webinar with a presentation on the procedures and means employed by the Italian Air Force for the air transport of patients in bio-containment.
The General outlined the Armed Forces' capabilities, describing the alert chain that leads to the planning of a biocontainment transport flight, and focusing on both the aircraft used and the characteristics of the ATI (Air Transit Isolator) and STI (Stretcher Transit Isolator) stretchers, which the Air Force is equipped with. These allow for the transport and initial treatment of a highly contagious patient, ensuring full safety for healthcare professionals.
Currently, the Air Force is one of the few organisations in the world capable of carrying highly infectious patients by air in high biocontainment, thanks to the use of special equipment and specially trained personnel.
