A seven-day-old baby girl has been urgently transferred due to a serious medical condition aboard an Italian Air Force aircraft. The transport request, deemed necessary to guarantee immediate specialist medical care for the young patient, was received by the Air Staff Situation Room via the Prefecture of Cagliari, which ordered the immediate execution of the flight. The aircraft, a Falcon 50 belonging to the 31st Wing of Ciampino (Rome), landed at the “Mario Mameli” airport in Elmas-Cagliari at 15:32 and departed at 16:07 for Ciampino airport (Rome), where it arrived after approximately 50 minutes of flight.
The newborn, housed inside a special thermal cot and accompanied by her parents, was assisted during the flight by the medical team from the Cagliari hospital. Upon arrival in Rome, the little patient was immediately transferred, by ambulance, to the Bambin Gesù hospital.
Cagliari-Elmas Airport is currently the most used airport for this type of flight for the entire southern part of Sardinia, as it is close to the main hospital facilities in the capital.
The aircraft of the 31st Wing of Ciampino are used for State transport and for public utility missions, such as the urgent medical transport of sick people, severely injured individuals, and organs for transplants, as well as for interventions in favour of people in situations of risk. This latter activity, given the imminent danger to the lives of the people being transported, requires a readiness level of twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.
