On 05 November, the Air Force base at Poggio Renatico, home of the Aerospace Operations Command (COA), organised the 2nd Round Table “Guidelines for air rescue for people with non-motor disabilities”, a project born from the determination of AM personnel to develop a standard procedure for assisting people with disabilities, particularly sensory or cognitive impairments, in order to optimise the effectiveness and safety of rescue operations.
Not only did the specialised military personnel in Search and Rescue (SAR), but also numerous professionals from the healthcare and voluntary sectors, including the Italian Red Cross, Ferrara Fire Brigade, University of Pisa, National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps (CNSAS), National Association of Civil Mutilated and Disabled Persons (ANMIC), Emilia Romagna Civil Protection, Coordination of Civil Protection Volunteer Associations (CAVPFE), Ferrara Bone Marrow Donor Association (ADMO), Italy – Aviation Psychology Association (IT-APA), From the Earth to the Moon Association, Lo Specchio ETS, The Knot Association.
It Commander of COA, Major General Luca Maineri, on welcoming those present, described the path taken over the past year, full of challenges and new activities, which led to the drafting of the guidelines and a Checklist, thanks to the collaboration and contribution of all participants.“It is clearly a team effort; it's not a job the Air Force can do alone. We have utilised the expertise of our Psychology Centre and the 15th Wing, but it's evident that there are also contributions provided by all of you. The General then wished to emphasise how “Marco and his parents are joining this team today., Referring to the young person, who has a non-motor disability, who wanted to get involved by participating personally in the recovery simulation. “For them too, today is a challenge they will face perhaps with some concern but certainly with great enthusiasm. Thanks to them and the association ‘Lo Specchio’ for becoming part of our team to reach a common goal.”.
The initiative, organised in collaboration with the Air Force Health Service, represented a new moment of meeting and discussion among all the actors involved in air rescue for assess the progress of the project and to verify, through a real demonstration event with an HH139 helicopter from the 15th Wing in Cervia, the guidelines consolidated to date: For the first time during the event, the recovery (boarding a helicopter) of a person with a real non-motor disability was simulated.
The demonstration event was commented “on the fly” with the crew, who made himself available to answer the numerous questions posed by the participants, all very enthusiastic about being able to contribute their Input of thought and experience on a fundamental theme for the future of air rescue.
A year ago, during the 1st Round Table, held at the COA, civil and military organisations, daily engaged in the safeguarding of human life at a local and national level, had met to Share experiences, proposals, and suggestions. Since then, A working group led by AM has been created composed of Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) of the COA, from the AM Psychology Centre and from 15th SAR Wing in Cervia. They were so Create and refine the guidelines to follow in rescue incidents involving People with non-motor disabilities, also thanks to the training experiment aimed at the AM crews of the 15th Wing. Furthermore, starting from these guidelines, has been developed Checklist to allow the user to identify some typical characteristics of non-motor disability and “experimental augmentative communication cards” useful for effectively interacting through images and drawings with the person being rescued and to make them understand how the rescue will take place. To then verify the effectiveness of these procedures and their real application, ad hoc scenarios have been implemented in all AM SAR exercises throughout 2025.
In the afternoon, participants were able to make further contributions during a group activity. At the end of the proceedings, Lieutenant Colonel Massimiliano Pierucci, promoter and manager of this project, summarised what had been accomplished and what still needs to be done to complete it. He emphasised the importance of this project and how the Italian Air Force (AM), a pioneer in addressing this issue, can act as a leader in attempting to fill a clear gap on the subject at a national (and also international) level, considering that there are no specific air rescue procedures for the approach and recovery of people with non-motor disabilities.
The next objective is that of Finalise a base “procedure” by the first half of 2026 for air-ambulances to be adapted if necessary for other types of rescue. “Let's consolidate what we've done today, and then consider whether to hold a new round table next year to tackle some additional challenges. - General Maineri adds - Implementing protocols means better and more effective rescue, having procedures that allow us to tackle situations in a structured way, with the awareness of being more effective in our rescue actions. We have faced this new challenge to provide our crews with an additional tool that ensures the human aspect is never underestimated, even in the most critical situations, and to save more lives.
The Italian Air Force conducts Search and Rescue operations Search and Rescue – SAR across the whole national territory to the highest levels of professionalism, through an Aeronautical Coordination and Rescue Centre, the Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC), unique in Italy, based in Poggio Renatico. This function, created for the rescue and recovery of military flight crews, operates 24/7, including for rescues in favour of those missing at sea, boats in distress, people in danger of life, and populations affected by natural disasters.
