"Doctor of the Italian Relief Corps of the Order of Malta (CISOM), embarked on a unit of the Italian Navy and called to operate within the Naval Surveillance and Maritime Safety Device for sea rescue operations and the migrant emergency in the waters of the Strait of Sicily, he volunteered for a medical intervention on a shipwrecked person with serious respiratory problems and a cardiac arrest, which had been embarked on another unit belonging to the device. Despite the adverse weather and marine conditions, he did not hesitate to be lowered from the helicopter with the aid of a winch on board the unit, which was reached thanks to his timely intervention, coordination and assistance to the medical staff on board, has made an effective contribution not only to the evacuation by helicopter of the patient to the island of Lampedusa, but also to the stabilization of the other migrants on board. His work, courageous, tireless and extremely difficult, represents a very high example of medical professionalism and of that solidarity that is typical of seafarers". 1
It is with this reason that it was granted to Sara Modde, a 37-year-old Roman, a doctor specialized in geriatrics, the bronze medal for merit of Marina. A medal that Sara herself would like to share and why not share with those who, after working and living together at sea, have become her best friends: Giovanni Rescigno and Diego Di Netto (photo), respectively head of first class and second head of the Navy. It is really with the Great Silent that Sara had a unique experience, which would have been difficult from a civil point of view.
It was September 2014 when, a few months after specialization and convinced by a friend of his, he decided to embark, under the aegis of the CISOM, on Lampedusa on the naval units. "I was fearful, I didn't know the military world and I wondered what it would be like, what they would think of me, a woman, a civilian. None of this. Extreme courtesy, absolute respect, maximum help in the difficulties".
Over time, different experiences have seen her as protagonist, "as a doctor, accustomed to life and death, I can say that on board ships there are two great terrors: childbirth and having to choose, in case of tragedy, who to save. In my experience at sea I had three parts: in the first two cases, I supported the gynecologist, in the third I was the only doctor. The woman had epileptic seizures probably due to pain and having no epilepsy therapy on board, I had to give her valium. The birth went well, but the perception that one has on board is not the same as those who see the situation from the outside: birth is terror because one never knows how it ends and if something goes wrong, not being equipped , you risk the death of the child".
The second terror, deciding who to save in case of tragedy, has never happened to her. The protocol that applies in those cases is not the same as in the hospitals where the most serious enters immediately, but it is like the war scenario: the most serious is left, even if it is a child, and it is Sara herself who says "with a clear mind, I know it's right, but I don't know if I'd have the courage". And then there are the dead in shipwrecks, where the cynicism of the trade takes over: "they are dead, you just have to recover them and through the necroscopic examination determine the cause and time of death. Of course it's not a good job and I still have the images printed in my brain, but in those moments you are lucid and cold".
Although today Sara works at the San Raffaele in Rocca di Papa, the desire to continue working in emergencies and with migrants has not lost her, indeed as she herself says "if I could, I would board tomorrow". In his story there are stories, faces and images of migrants that he will hardly forget: from women raped to bodies marked by torture and wounds.
"The Syrians are a bit like us, whole families arrive, they have a greater economic availability, they are educated, but they suffer the most from the journey, they complain a lot even for little pains and demand more: on board they ask you for Wi-Fi or to take a shower. No Africans: they are used to fatigue and have incredible resistance. They never complain, they only call you in extreme cases, they thank you for a glass of water or for a cookie given to children".
Modde is not an infectivologist, as she wants to point out, but her practical sense and her experience, combined with correct sanitary measures, make her say that there is no infectious disease emergency or the risk of contagion by those who save : "serious infectious diseases hardly arrive from the sea, an airport is extremely risky. Consider the Ebola, present in some areas of Central Africa. The migrants take three months to arrive in Libya: if they were sick, the incubation lasted 21 days, they wouldn't get there; as in Libya, there have never been any cases of Ebola. In the case of TB, migrants who suffer from it tell you or carry the drug package. In any case, the doctor has the mask, if he suspects he also puts it on the migrant and the risk is not taken. The only contagious disease is scabies, but it is cured ".
Sara's many memories and anecdotes, "at the end of my boarding it was like leaving a family, luckily the contacts remain. I had the chance to meet fantastic people, as well as great professionals, to learn the techniques of combat medicine, to get passionate about helicopter rescue. I still remember the moment when, after volunteering for relief, I realized that I should have lowered myself with the winch. I had never done it before, I could refuse, but inside me I said 'A Sa, but when you recapture it and I did it".
The rest is history, that of the medal and that of an experience that will allow it to say one day "I was there, I did it".
1 GU General Series n.68 of the 22 / 03 / 2016
