On 24 May, sailing in the central-southern Mediterranean Sea, during a busy day for the ships of EUNAVFOR MED Sophia, with various search and rescue interventions and the recovery of about 3.000 migrants, the ship's medical team Cavour, flagship of the Operation, was activated for immediate action.
The intervention was necessary to rescue two migrants who were transported aboard the Cavour, by the ships that had rescued them, with a Navy AB-212 helicopter (the procedure is called Medevac, Medical Evacuation).
The first unit to request assistance was theAquarius, belonging to the humanitarian association "SOS Mediterranee" and cooperating in rescue actions. For the worsening of the health conditions of a Cameroonian migrant of just over two years, who had just recovered, immediate medical support was required.
Ship intervention Cavour, where a high-level hospital is embarked Role 2 it was decisive. Units Role 2 they are equipped with equipment and medical personnel that allow them to carry out triage and first aid in the most critical situations but also to have health stations, near the operating area, with operating rooms capable of surgically stabilizing patients.
Specialist doctors reached theAquarius by helicopter they were lowered on board with the winch and immediately evacuated the little patient, transferring him on board the aircraft carrier, for specialist investigations. After about half an hour, with a similar procedure, the mother also arrived on board.
The child, whose mother reported having a respiratory disease, presented with a hypoglycemic and hypovolemic coma with a high fever. The conditions were therefore extremely critical.
The little patient underwent intensive care to stabilize his condition.
The second patient, of unspecified nationality and age, transferred by helicopter from the Bettica ship, with his clothes soaked in fuel, unconscious and with vital parameters such as to evaluate him in imminent danger of life.
The migrant, after being intubated, subjected to mechanical ventilation and cannulation of the central vein, underwent further blood tests. Shortly afterwards his conditions, although critical, have been stabilized.
The next day, therefore, the two patients were transferred by helicopter to the health center of Catania for the necessary further treatments.
