Spallanzani and the Air Force united for the management of emergencies related to infectious diseases. Collaboration for emergency transport is essential.
The 34th national conference of the Italian Association of Aeronautical and Space Medicine, held in Rome, marked an important step forward in the collaboration between the National Institute for Infectious Diseases “Lazzaro Spallanzani” and the Air Force-Health Service. This synergy proves crucial in the management of infectious emergencies, representing a precious resource for the national healthcare system.
A meeting was organized during the conference “table top” session, an exercise aimed at the aeromedical management of infectious emergencies on Italian territory. The event saw the participation of key bodies such as ENAC and the Ministry of Health, as well as the presentation of the new interactive training system called “Global Biohazard Training System”. Through a simulation which involved the transfer of a patient suffering from Marbourg fever from Lampedusa to Spallanzani, the various institutional actors were able to illustrate their skills in terms of diagnosis, case confirmation, transport and clinical treatment.
Spallanzani’s key figures
Prominent personalities from Spallanzani were present at the meeting: the general director Angelo Aliquò; Emanuele Nicastri, director of the Complex Operational Unit for High Intensity of Treatment Infectious Diseases; and Fabrizio Maggi, director of the Complex Virology Operating Unit and Biosafety Laboratories. These figures have underlined how recent health emergencies at national and international level have highlighted the need for rapid and effective responses based on a multidisciplinary approach. Shared planning between decision makers and advance knowledge of the actions to be taken prove to be fundamental elements in this context.
The global health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how vital it is to have well-prepared systems to deal with infectious emergencies. From this perspective, the development of the “Global Biohazard Training System” represents an innovative tool that aims to improve response capacity through advanced inter-institutional training. This platform allows the various actors involved in the management of health crises – from health institutions to the armed forces – to train together in virtually simulated scenarios in order to optimize times and methods of intervention in real situations.
The collaboration between Spallanzani and the Air Force-Health Service therefore emerges as a virtuous example in the panorama of emergency medicine in Italy. The ability to work together across institutional boundaries is essential to ensure an effective response to future health threats. The success of the joint exercise demonstrates that only through cooperation is it possible to build a resilient healthcare system capable of not only reacting to but also preventing future crises in the field of infectious diseases.
