Leonardo and Olmedo, a European company focused on the design and preparation of vehicles for healthcare use, signed a collaboration agreement aimed at the development of technologies and equipment for rotary-wing and motor vehicles that conduct rescue missions.
The aim of the agreement, explains Leonardo, is to improve the times and effectiveness of emergency medical interventions carried out in a joint mode through the use of helicopter and ambulances in a seamless environment. The agreement will prioritise the creation of an R&D structure comprising of a joint research team, which will look at the development and prototyping of new components and universal solutions for both helicopters and ambulances. This will also include looking at data-sharing platforms to enable the real-time interface of the patient’s vital signs during the rescue mission: from the place of intervention to the hospital and during transfers.
Leonardo explains the partnership’s foundations were built at the international REMOTE helicopter rescue meeting held in December 2018 at Leonardo’s Helicopter Division plant in Vergiate. The evolution of the agreement will allow Olmedo to work on the creation, within its own group, of a new division: a “Fly Division”, which will be dedicated to the design of products and technologies for air ambulance.
Leonardo states it has a fleet of nearly 700 helicopters for operational rescue around the world. The company explains it has embarked on a path to strengthen its role in the emergency sector with the signing of agreements with the Italian Mountain and Speleological Italian Rescue Corps and the Association of Critical Hospital Anaesthetists Resurrection Hospital Critical Area.
Leonardo has also recently signed an agreement with the scientific society SIAARTI (Italian Society for Anaesthesia Analgesia Resuscitation and Intensive Care) which aims to increase the mission capabilities of air ambulances and the effectiveness of medical services connected to their use through, for example, the study of new internal configurations of future helicopters, the definition of new guidelines and standards for doctors and their training, both in Italy and internationally.
