nightingale project held 2nd international workshop on prehospital tools in mass casualty in milan, italy
Press release
- EU-funded NIGHTINGALE project explored their new, AI-based toolkit for first responders at an international workshop in Milan.
- Over 50 researchers and first responders from across Europe and beyond participated in the workshop.
- The event was hosted by the European Society for Trauma and Emergency Surgery (ESTES) and featured a series of use cases based on real-life mass casualties.
In October 2024, the NIGHTINGALE project members met in Malpensa, Milan, for the project’s 2nd NIGHTINGALE International Workshop on Prehospital Tools in Mass Casualty. The theme of the workshop was ‘How to enhance the capacity of First Responders to save lives in mass casualty incidents and disasters’, with a focus on using the NIGHITNGALE toolkit in such scenarios. This toolkit was developed by NIGHTINGALE to enhance pre-hospital life support and triage for challenging and complex environments, using AI-based solutions and augmented reality tools. Presenters included research and technology developers, first responders, and emergency medical practitioners from across Europe and beyond.
At the workshop, each presenter spoke about a specific mass casualty situation they experienced in their work and the challenges of these experiences. Presentations were grouped by specific use cases and each group of presentations was followed by a roundtable discussion, where the presentations were discussed under the following two topics: ‘What we would have liked to have to improve our action’ and ‘What the NIGHTINGALE toolkit can offer’. The former discussion was guided by user experts and each presenter expressed what they would have needed to improve their action. The latter discussion was guided by a tech expert and explored how the NIGHTINGALE toolkit can help first responders in future scenarios similar to those faced by each presenter. Among the diverse topics of discussion included pre-hospital response, paediatrics, the secondary trauma of medical professionals as well as that of the patients, and patient distribution and hospital overload.
At the end of the workshop, all the participants were requested to publicly present their ‘take home message’. A range of insights emerged from this exercise, including how technology will change the future of disaster management, the importance of education and training in addition to the technology deployed, and the value in the collaboration of experience and standard operating procedures between practitioners (the users) and technology developers.
Dr Roberto Faccincani, NIGHTINGALE principal investigator for ESTES and Head of the Emergency Department in ASST Melegnano e Martesana, Milano, said of the event:
‘Overall, the workshop highlighted that the key to NIGHTINGALE’s success is the broad range of expertise within its interdisciplinary consortium, and the project’s combination of this existing expertise with innovative technology that can be used by first responders.’
Dr Spyros Athanasiadis, project manager of the coordination team of the Institute of Communication & Computer Systems (ICCS) in Athens, said of the event:
‘The 2nd NIGHTINGALE International Workshop was a resounding success, following the highly effective deployment of the NIGHTINGALE toolkit in a real-world scenario involving over 80 victims and a comparable number of first responders in a large-scale exercise. The pilot demonstrated the toolkit’s capability to enhance emergency response coordination, setting a new standard for disaster management technology.’
The hybrid workshop was attended by over 50 people and was hosted by ESTES.
ENDS
For more information about the NIGHTINGALE project, or to arrange an interview with a NIGHTINGALE representative, contact Sean Travers, Carr Communications, at stravers@carrcommunications.ie
Notes to the Editor
More about the NIGHTINGALE Project
The NIGHTINGALE project is developing a novel integrated toolkit for emergency medical response, in order to optimise the current procedures and operational capabilities of emergency medical services and civil protection agencies in mass casualty incidents. This toolkit has been designed for emergency medical services and non-medical civil protection agencies, including fire brigades, police, search and rescue personnel, volunteers, and citizens.
The toolkit has undergone extensive testing and validation by first responders. This includes practical training exercises, laboratory testing, and small- and full-scale field tests in realistic mass casualty incident scenarios.
About ESTES
ESTES’ aim is to promote interest, knowledge and quality of care in emergency and trauma surgery.
ESTES was formed in 2007 by the merger of the European Association for Trauma & Emergency Surgery and the European Trauma Society. Since then, it has continued to promote best practice in the provision of emergency and trauma surgery from pre-hospital care through diagnosis, intervention and intensive care to rehabilitation. This is underpinned by international collaboration, scientific research, development and delivery of training courses, and the work of the specialist sections (Disaster & Military Surgery, Emergency Surgery, Polytrauma, Visceral Trauma as well as Skeletal Trauma and Sports Medicine).
ESTES holds an annual scientific meeting – the European Congress for Trauma and Emergency Surgery (ECTES) and produces a bi-monthly journal – the European Journal for Trauma and Emergency Surgery (EJTES). ESTES also provides practical support through Grants and Fellowships.
Contact information of the NIGHTINGALE Project Coordinator
Dr Angelos Amditis
Research and Development Director
Institute of Communication and Computer Systems
Email: a.amditis@iccs.gr
Contact information of the NIGHTINGALE Technical Manager
Evangelos Sdongos
Managing Director
ASTRIAL GmbH
Email: e.sdongos@astrial.de
For more information about the project, visit the NIGHTINGALE website and follow NIGHTINGALE on LinkedIn and X.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101021957.
