The Air Force's Medical Service hosted five doctors from allied countries as part of the European Air Group, an update on the latest developments in the field of aeronautical medicine.
Also for 2023 the Medical Board of the European Air Group organises the periodic course dedicated to expert medical officers in the sector, which will run for six weeks across Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom, for an update on the latest developments in The field of aeronautical and space medicine.
The first section, dedicated to Space and Operations Medicine, with particular focus given to high-altitude air transport Biocontainment, 18–22 September in Rome and Pratica di Mare, Italy, organised by Air Force Health Service. through subordinates Institute of Aerospace Medicine Training and Advancement, Rome and the Main Infirmatory of Pratica di Mare, and in collaboration with the Department of Aeronautical and Space Medicine of the Aeronautical and Space Experimental Division of Pratica di Mare.
The first two days of work, at the headquarters of the Institute for the Training and Practice of Aerospace Medicine in Rome, were dedicated to space medicine, with numerous presentations by renowned experts in the field: among them, Generals Florigio Lista and Marco Lucertini, Colonel Francesco Torchia, Professor Beomonte Zobel from the Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Engineer Crisconio from the Italian Space Agency, and Professor Francesco Cairo from the CNR.
The following two days saw the attendees move to Pratica di Mare Airport, where they were able to visit the A.M. Main Infirmary, with its section dedicated to the capability of Aeromedical evacuation (MEDEVAC) and the High Biocontainment Transport Group, a centre of excellence for the Air Force since 2005, which has represented the Armed Force's spearhead in the fight against’COVID-19 pandemic emergency, before moving to the Department of Aerospace Medicine of the Aerospace Experimentation Division with the Flight Test Center for experimentation in the field of aerospace medicine and aerophysiological training of flight personnel.
The medical officers, accompanied by the Chief of the Air Force Medical Corps and Chief of the Air Force Health Service, General Inspector Pietro Perelli, also participated in a demonstration flight for high bioconfinement patient transport, on board an aircraft specially made available by the DASAS Flight Experimental Unit.
At the conclusion of their course, and to strengthen a twenty-year collaboration with the Air Force, the attendees made a visit to the’National Institute for Infectious Diseases “Lazzaro Spallanzani” in Rome, during which Dr Emanuele Nicastri illustrated the activation procedures for the’High Level Isolation Unit and the Institute was visited’High Insulation Unit of the Institute at the’Innovation Smart Centre. The Director General of the INMI Spallanzani, Dr Angelo Aliquò, welcomed the Italian Air Force delegation and took the opportunity to underline the need for collaboration in the healthcare sector between highly reliable organisations, the only prerequisite for building a secure system capable of facing ordinary and extraordinary emergencies such as a pandemic.
Lo European Air Group (EAG) is an organisation formed by the air forces of 7 European nations aiming to implement the capabilities of the air forces of member and partner countries through improved interoperability, officially established on 1 January 1998 with the adherence of other nations to a previous agreement between Royal Air Force and French Air Force.
The member states are: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom; the partner and associate nations are: Norway, Sweden, Canada, USA, Poland and Australia.
The Italian Air Force's Health Service provides medical support in the fields of legal and occupational medicine, prevention, assistance and rehabilitation, aeromedical safety, and the procurement of medical supplies, for all Air Force personnel and other eligible individuals (personnel from other armed forces or institutions), both domestically and abroad. It is also technically responsible for the training and deployment of Air Force medical personnel. Its mission is to support Air Force personnel to ensure they are always psychophysically ready to fulfil the duties to which the Air Force and the country call them.
