An HH-139 helicopter of the Italian Air Force intervened in the early afternoon of today to collect a 75-year-old man with a fractured femur and in need of urgent transport to a hospital on the island of Ponza. The helicopter, one of the assets of the Armed Force always ready for take-off on the national territory also for this kind of transport, immediately took off from the military base of Pratica di Mare - home of the 85th SAR (Search and Rescue) Center del 15 ° Stormo - made a stop on the air base of Latina for the boarding of a medical team and reached the Lazio island in a few minutes. Once the patient embarked, with the support of the specialized team of on-board operators and air-rescuers of which the crew is composed, the helicopter returned to the military airport of Latina, home of the 70 flight school. ° Stormo AM, which in the circumstances provided logistical support for the special health mission. From there the patient was then transferred by ambulance to the hospital in the Pontine capital.
The medical transport, requested by the Prefecture of Latina, was coordinated by the Air Operations Command of Poggio Renatico (FE), the command and control center of the Air Force from which all operational activities of this kind are managed. This is one of the services that the Air Force carries out for the community, a typical example of dual use of the skills and professionalism of the Defense at the service of the country.
SAR - search and rescue - is a peculiar specialty that arises from the need to operate for the search and rescue of crews and military personnel in difficulty, both in Italy and abroad. This ability, made possible by the use of technologically advanced vehicles and crews trained in all environmental conditions, can be addressed - as in this and many other circumstances - directly to the citizen. Only in 2018 were 115 missions of this kind carried out by transport aircraft and helicopters of the Air Force, for a total of over 310 hours of flight and 110 patients - including many children - transported. The service is available without interruption 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, covers the entire national territory, including islands, and is insured for missions of public utility such as emergency medical transport of people in imminent danger of life, or that of organs and medical teams for transplants.
