“Our son is drowning, help us.” Two-year-old boy saved thanks to an app

In 2021 (sorry, 2020 was still underway) a person’s salvation can also go through a Application properly operated by a professional sanitary. To the registry office Daniele Celin, 41-year-old nurse of the Maggiore hospital in Bologna in force in 118, a Bolognese doc and able, before Christmas Eve, to remotely supervise the Patrick, a boy of only 2 years that he was no longer breathing. “It was the night of the 23rd – says Stefania, the boy’s mother -, we were making pizza and Patrick wanted a piece of mozzarella. Once swallowed, however, he began not to breathe… ”. At that moment the worst 23 minutes of their lives begin for Stefania and her husband Michele, she from Bologna and he from Turin who reside under the Two Towers. Call 118 immediately: “Hello, our son is drowning, help us.”

Inside the nightmare. The first questions come from the operations center to frame the situation and especially the place of the call: code red, 2 year old boy, occlusion, call from Bologna. Daniele will take care of the rest, for 18 years in the emergency, a colleague as a partner and a thirteen-year-old daughter. “We needed a heart massage – he explains – then I began to give the lady the first indications but without being able to see her movements and everything was much more difficult. “How to do then? Easy, using FlagMii, an innovative application used for just over a year by Emilia Romagna and Piedmont, which allows, through a simple smartphone, to improve the time and quality of the intervention118 operator that can control everything, live, sitting next to the operations center. A privacy message arrives on the phone that must be accepted, then it will be enough activate the camera and the operation is ready to start.

“Immediately – the nurse resumes – the image of the baby appeared on the screen and I began to guide father away I was initially doing the massage wrong and so I corrected it. Every move was taken in abundance by his wife. Everything lasted About twenty minutes waiting for the arrival of the ambulance and the car. Without that video call? Let’s say there had been little chance of salvation for the little one. “

Thank you, angels … In an adult, for example, each minute that passes means 10% less chance of saving your life. For a child, everything becomes even more difficult. “Fundamental, Daniele proudly emphasizes, was the cold blood of these two parents, never a cry, never a sign of discouragement, they followed me to the letter without blinking “. Stefania continued, Michele acted gently on her son’s little body, Daniele showed them the right way. Now, remember that the App is also used “for major traumas, in traffic accidents” and just a few days ago even “during childbirth.” Power of technology A system integrated into the hospital ‘brain’ and that today is used by all the operators of the 118 Bolognese.

The Renaissance. But how is little Patrick now? “Better than before – jokes Stefania, who can finally relax and smile – it seems that she has not had anything lucky. The children have an incredible resistance”. After admission to resuscitation of the Sant’Orsola Polyclinic, where he underwent surgery, from Christmas day until the 28th he was transferred to the Pediatric Emergency Department, finally being discharged on the 29th. “We thank Maggiore and Sant’Orsola – close to the parents – but above all the professionalism of Daniele and his colleagues, true angels. “