New night rescue service in Italy

The night rescue flights were made possible due to the start of a new regional contract signed last July. The rescue helicopter will carry out both inter-hospital transfers and scene rescues, allowing the most critical pathologies to be transported directly to the hospital.  

As required by the regulations, for the first two months of rescue operations, the helicopter will be able to land on surfaces already identified and included in the flight manuals, and equipped with lighting. Subsequently, it can also operate on non-illuminated surfaces.

Pilots trained to use night vision goggles

The company that manages the helicopter, Babcock Italia, carried out a night reconnaissance of all the sites to verify their safety and to prepare the approach and landing routes. The pilots were trained to operate using night vision goggles, a technology that until a few years ago was reserved for the military sector.

The layout of the sites makes it possible to cover the part of the territory that requires long access times to the hub hospital by critically ill patients; particular attention was paid to the province of Belluno, to ensure that a landing surface is available throughout the territory. However, the rescue helicopter will immediately cover the provinces of Belluno and Treviso, and in the following week the coverage will be extended to the Venetian and Asiago plateau.