From the Trapani air base, a HH-139A helicopter of the SAR was launched to recover a fifty-one-year-old American who suffered a heart attack on board a cruise ship. At 18:00, an HH-139A was launched, at the order of the R.C.C. (Rescue Coordination Center) subordinate to the C.O.A. (Air Operations Command) of Poggio Renatico (FE), to reach the American cruise ship ’Eurodam“ flying the American flag that was located approximately 30 nautical miles southwest of Trapani. The crew of the 82nd SAR Center reached the target at 18:20 and proceeded to lower the air ambulance, with a deployable stretcher attached, onto the ship’s deck. Once the patient was stabilized, the recovery of the fifty-one-year-old American was carried out on board the stretcher, properly equipped with an autoinjector and defibrillator, and the doctor present on board the ”Eurodam’. After the boarding operations ended at 19:00, the HH-139A headed towards the Trapani Birgi base where it landed at 19:20, leaving the American citizen in the care of the 118 medical staff. The 82nd Center is one of the units of the 15th Air Wing of the Italian Air Force that guarantees 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the search and rescue of aircraft crews in difficulty, in addition to contributing to public utility activities such as the search for missing persons at sea or in the mountains, the emergency medical transport of patients in life-threatening danger and the rescue of seriously injured people. From its establishment to today, the crews of the 15th Air Wing have saved about 7000 people in life-threatening danger.
