This took place in Civitavecchia, within the Conference Hall del Village IN Italy set up at the port of Civitavecchia the conference titled “Medical and biocontainment transport: the synergistic collaboration of the Air Force with the National Health Service, organised as part of the 16th stage of the 16th Mediterranean Tour of the Amerigo Vespucci ship.
The event has been included in the programme of the “Village in Italy”, which is part of the “World Tour – Italian Village” project, driven by the Minister of Defence Guido Crosetto, in which twelve ministries have participated with the aim of promoting the excellence of Made in Italy and to take around the world the culture, history, innovation, gastronomy, science, research, technology and industry that make Italy a universally appreciated country.
The conference, moderated by Dr. Ulrico Angeloni, Director of the Ministry of Health's Emergency Health Office, involved personalities and professionals from three institutions, important in health transport and biocontainment activities, Italian Air Force, The Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases and the Bambino Gesù Paediatric Hospital, who compared their scientific, technological, and operational capacities in a context where collaboration and discussion are key factors for optimising interventions, even in highly complex healthcare emergencies.
In their opening statement, The Secretary General of the Bambino Gesù Foundation Dr Niccolò Contucci, welcoming the participants, he recalled how important the Air Force's willingness is to providing the country with a system of excellent overall capabilities, highlighting the decision to support the establishment of the “Bambino Gesù” Paediatric Hospital (OPBG) through the charitable project for 2025 called “A Gift from Heaven for the Bambino Gesù Hospital”.
the discussion was joined by Colonel Marco Angori, Commander of the 31st Wing of Ciampino in his speech, underlined how the health rescue activities, which involve not only the 31st Wing but also the 46th Air Brigade and the 15th Wing, engage personnel of the Armed Force who are called to transform suffering into hope through their ability to be ready and available for the community. The urgency that characterises this type of activity requires a high level of readiness, which is maintained twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year. Often, the Air Force receives concurrent requests, sometimes even at night, meaning the same crew carries out multiple missions across the country within a few hours. Evidence of this is the attestations of professionalism that have repeatedly arrived for the successful health air transport service, which has been able to intervene in marginal conditions where others cannot operate (especially to and from smaller islands, at night and in bad weather).
The conference also featured Il Col. Alberto, author at the Italian Air Force Aerospace Medicine Institute which highlighted how the Italian Air Force is among the few air forces in the world to have Operational capacity for the air transport of highly infectious patients using biocontainment systems. This resource contributes to the national security system, such as during the COVID-19 epidemiological emergency, as it allows for the safe isolation of transmissible infectious disease cases using cutting-edge medical equipment and their transfer to a suitable high-containment treatment facility. In sanitary air transport, the Air Force is therefore the only institution to have developed unique capabilities in the national landscape over the years, thanks to a seamless alarm service and a permanently active command and control organisation. This capability is ensured through the use of numerous assets, as well as a team comprising highly trained and specialised personnel (specialists, doctors, and nurses).
The panel was attended by Doctor Laura Scorzolini of the Complex Operative Unit (UOC) of Infectious Diseases of the INMI ’Lazzaro Spallanzani“ and Doctor Daniela Perrotta – Head of the UOC of Anaesthesia and Resuscitation and Operating Departments of the ”Bambino Gesù“ Paediatric Hospital”, which have highlighted how collaboration and shared development of knowledge, military capabilities, clinical skills, and international protocols in high-complexity health emergencies enable us to capably tackle the challenges of biocontainment and health transport.
Concluding the event, the Colonel Marco Lastilla, Head of the Air Force Medical Corps Office, in his opening address, he stressed how crucial air transport is for medical rescue operations, but even more so is the Armed Force's ability to look beyond and develop these specialities through new projects, such as flights in ECMO mode (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Transport), or transport for disabled patients with psychological support provided by the Healthcare Service, and the transport of burn victims or patients affected by chemical agents, a reality that is evolving within the 3rd Wing with the aim of allowing citizens in life-threatening danger to change their circumstances thanks to an aircraft that rapidly takes them to a safe place where they can receive equally safe treatment.
