A multi-year collaboration that binds, since 2007, the CISOM - Italian Relief Corps of the Order of Malta and the Coast Guard. A relationship matured in the operations of saving lives at sea, related to the migratory phenomenon, and which was renewed thanks to a memorandum of understanding signed by the commander general of the Coast Guard, admiral inspector Vincenzo Melone and the president of CISOM, Narciso Salvo of Pietraganzili.
The presence of CISOM medical personnel on board the naval units of the Coast Guard, as well as those of the Navy, ensures the possibility of providing migrants, rescued, with a first medical intervention and to promptly identify any health cases that require evacuations. of urgency. The numbers speak for themselves: in 2015, through the use of 102 doctors, 66 nurses, 73 volunteers and 12 CISOM logisticians, 491 SAR (Search & Rescue) operations were carried out in the Strait of Sicily, rescuing 53.712 migrants. 800 life-saving therapies administered, 72 urgent transfers and 25 those in helicopter rescue.
The Memorandum of Understanding, the fourth signed since 2007, aims to direct the collaboration relationship towards new ambitious goals, as stated by Mauro Casinghini, director of CISOM: "new objectives for a collaboration consolidated by nine years of common experience, which has created a maritime and health team ready for any need at sea. Medical aid to migrants will be even more at the center of mutual commitment, keeping faith with shared values of ethics, humanity and assistance to the needy. We wanted to add important issues to the general protocol in addition to identifying projects that can enhance the commitment of both bodies, confirming that what has been done so far has proved to be a useful tool for growth".
Among the themes that constitute innovative elements in the new protocol, the common commitment to identify projects of interest to access resources made available by the European Union in order to improve the quality of services rendered in the field of search and rescue of human lives at sea as well , as regards the activity provided by CISOM, for the profiles related to health care on board and in the context of operations. Joint initiatives for training in the specialist sectors of respective relevance should also be added.
(photo: CISOM)
