A flight from Cagliari to Milan took place in the early afternoon of today, Friday 28 February, aboard a Falcon 900 of the 31st Wing of Ciampino, requested to ensure emergency medical transport for a pregnant woman whose life was in danger and who was in urgent need of medical treatment.
The urgent need for specialist intervention necessitated the immediate deployment of an Italian Air Force aircraft. The patient, from the “Duilio Casula” hospital in Monserrato, was embarked at Cagliari airport on a Falcon 900 aircraft at around 14:00. During the transfer flight, the woman was constantly assisted by a medical team.
The aircraft landed at Milan airport after a flight of about one hour. From here the patient was quickly transferred on board an ambulance, continuing her journey towards the “Vittore Buzzi” Children's Hospital in Milan. The 31st Wing crew subsequently resumed operational readiness duty.
The flight, requested by the Prefecture of Cagliari, was promptly coordinated and activated by the Top Situation Room of the Air Squad Command – 1a Air Region, the operations room of the Italian Air Force which, among its tasks, also manages urgent medical transports, issuing the takeoff order for the aircraft that the Armed Force keeps ready, 24 hours a day, at various bases for this type of requirement.
Missions of this type require acting with the utmost promptness, guaranteed by meticulous organisation and well-tried procedures. Hundreds of flight hours are performed every year by the aircraft of the Italian Air Force for urgent medical transport, both of people in imminent danger of life and of medical teams and/or organs, for humanitarian flights, and for search and rescue missions. Crews from the 31st Wing of Ciampino, the 15th Wing of Cervia and its subordinate SAR (Search and Rescue) Centres, the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa and the 14th Wing of Pratica di Mare are ready 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, to take off at very short notice, with assets and crews capable of operating, even in complex weather conditions, for any destination in Italy and abroad upon request
