The seventy-year-old man was transported to the military airport of Latina. An HH-139 helicopter of the Italian Air Force intervened this afternoon to pick up a 75-year-old man on the island of Ponza with a broken femur and in need of urgent transport to a hospital facility. The helicopter, one of the assets of the Armed Forces always ready to take off on the national territory for this type of transport, immediately took off from the military base of Pratica di Mare – headquarters of the 85th SAR (Search and Rescue) Center of the 15th Stormo – made a stop at the military base of Latina for the boarding of a medical team and reached the Italian island in a few minutes. Once the patient was on board, with the support of the specialized team of flight crew and aero-medical personnel that made up the crew, the helicopter returned to the military airport of Latina, the headquarters of the 70th AM Flight School, which provided logistical support for the special medical mission. From there, the patient was then transported by ambulance to the hospital in the capital of the Pontine region. The medical transport requested by the Prefectural Authority of Latina was coordinated by the Air Operations Command of Poggio Renatico (FE), the Air Force command and control center from which all operational activities of this type are managed. This is one of the services that the Air Force provides to the community; it is a typical example of the dual use of the capabilities and professionalism of the Defense for the benefit of the country. The SAR – search and rescue – is a special specialty that stems from the need to operate in search and rescue operations for military crews and personnel in difficulty, both in Italy and abroad. This capability, made possible by the use of technologically advanced means and crews trained for all environmental conditions, can be directed – as in this and many other circumstances – directly at the citizen. In 2018 alone, there were 115 missions of this kind carried out by the transport aircraft and helicopters of the Air Force, for a total of over 310 hours of flight with 110 patients – including many children – transported. The service is available 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, and covers the entire national territory, including the islands, and is provided for public utility missions such as the emergency medical transport of people in imminent danger of life, or that of organs and medical teams for transplants.
