An important search and rescue exercise in an impervious environment organized by the command of the 19th Alpine Regiment and coordinated by the Prefecture of Udine in the days of 20 and 8 February was held in the municipalities of Gemona del Friuli and Venzone framework of the "Research plan for missing persons in the province of Udine".
In addition to the Alpine troops of the 8th rgt, the "mountaineers" of the Third Artillery, the knights of the rgt took part in the exercise for the Italian Army. "Piedmont Cavalry" and the helicopters of the AVES (Army Aviation), for the Air Force the AMX aircraft. The AVES helicopters were used to transport the research teams to areas not accessible by the rotated vehicles, the Air Force AMX aircraft carried out photo-detection tasks in the research area.
The exercise saw the participation of over 250 rescue workers belonging to the Fire Brigade, the Guardia di Finanza, the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps, the Civil Protection of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the Carabinieri and the Forest Guard. Regional.
The Civil Protection of Friuli Venezia Giulia has used its "Remote Pilot Aircraft System" (SAPR), commonly known as "drone", in its research activities. It is a helicopter that has a flight autonomy of about 20 minutes, depending on the environmental conditions, which allows the transport and use of multiple sensors for data acquisition in the field of visible and thermal infrared.
The Army has deployed three systems for the surveillance of the battlefield with the 3rd terrestrial artillery (from Mountain), among these, in addition to the already used SAO and Radar Ranger, for the first time it sees the LYNX system deployed, a thermal chamber newly acquired capable of identifying the thermal image of a person in a forest over 8 km away.
The Alpine and Speleological Rescue sent its team of specialists along the ravine of the Venzonassa torrent assisted in the search by the "molecular dogs" able to follow the odor traces of the missing people for kilometers.
The association "Autism Project FVG" has made its facilities and staff available for the training of emergency workers with regard to research methods for people with autism.
The scenario of the exercise foresees that, by the prefecture of Udine, the search plan for people who have disappeared following the report of the departure from their home, in Venzone, of a seventeen-year-old boy suffering from autism is activated. To encourage integration and mutual knowledge, it was decided, during the coordination meeting, to set up mixed research teams, sharing tools and equipment, with a view to making the "rescue system" as efficient as possible.
Following the prefecture's activation of the plan, the Provincial Command of the Fire Brigade will make its Local Crisis Unit (UCL) operational within the "Feruglio" Barracks in Venzone, home of the 8th Alpine Regiment. , a key structure to put in contact and coordinate all the structures and teams involved in research operations on the ground. The device will also be integrated by the command and control systems (radio and wire) made available by the 8th Alpine Regiment and the Civil Protection of the FVG. The first phases of the research saw the overflight of two AMX Air Force aircraft that, through the reconnaissance POD Rafael Reccelite, have mapped the area. In coordination with the Fire Brigade, once the topographical information was obtained, the search sectors were assigned to each rescue team.
The scenario of the exercise foresees that the missing boy, whose role will be "played" by four Alpini specially trained by the "Autism Project FVG" specialists, can be found in different situations and psychophysical conditions: unscathed, slightly injured, unable to move or fell into a ravine, a deep hole with vertical walls.
The final act is represented by a "real" rescue demonstration, in which the operators were engaged in the final, the most delicate phase, of the search for a person suffering from autism.
In addition to the rescue operators, the demonstration on the ground was also attended by personnel specialized in the management and evaluation of the psychophysical conditions of subjects affected by autism.
