EMT2 Toscana: the field hospital to deploy during emergencies was presented in Florence

The final event for the adaptation of the Advanced Medical Post with Surgery of the volunteer organization GCU-Gruppo Chirurgia d'Urgenza per interventi di protezione civile, which is part of the regional Civil Protection Mobile Column, took place this morning in Florence at the Aula Magna of the Meyer Health Campus.

The meeting was attended by several officials, including the President of the Tuscany Region, Eugenio Giani, the Head of the Department of Civil Protection, Fabrizio Curcio, the Head of the ERCC-Emergency Response Coordination Centre of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Civil Protection and European Humanitarian Aid Operations (DGECHO), Michela Matuella, the Regional Councillor for Environment and Civil Protection, Monia Monni, the Regional Councillor for the Right to Health and Healthcare, Simone Bezzini, the Director of the Department's Volunteer and National Service Resources Office, Sisto Russo, the Director of Civil Protection of the Tuscany Region, Giovanni Massini, the Regional Health Representative, Piero Paolini, the President of the GCU, Federico Filidei, and the Civil Protection Officer of the Tuscany Region, Alessia Mugnai Poggesi.

The European project aims to classify the medical module as an Emergency Medical Team Type 2 (EMT2) according to the international standards provided by the World Health Organization and recognized by the European Commission. This certification will allow Italy to be equipped with a field hospital to deploy during disasters at national and international levels.

Once certification is obtained, the module can be enrolled in the ECCP-European Civil Protection Pool, which includes resources made available by member states of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism to respond immediately in case of disasters.

The "EMT2 Toscana" project was born in 2022 from a partnership between the Department of Civil Protection, the Region of Tuscany, and GCU in response to the European Commission-Directorate General for Civil Protection and European Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG-ECHO)'s call for proposals. The European Union funded 75% of the adaptation cost, and the Department and the Region of Tuscany funded the remaining 25%. The implementation process focused on three aspects: personnel recruitment, training, and equipment supply.

If activated, the hospital will be able to quickly respond to a wide range of emergency situations. It will be able to care for more than 100 people per day with a 24-hour operational capacity, employing about 60 professionals, including doctors, nurses, and volunteer logisticians from the regional civil protection system, as well as civil protection personnel from the Tuscany Region and the Department.