Sicily emergency medical teams receive awards and face violence in recent incidents

A ceremony in Palermo honored three 118 emergency operators from Paternò – physician Massimiliano La Spina, nurse Benedetto Conigliello and driver Patrizia Salva – for their professionalism in complex emergencies, including a birth on the SS121 highway. La Spina said the award recognized “the critical events we manage, and also the birth on the SS121.”

In a separate incident at the San Martino hospital in Oristano, a volunteer 118 operator and a nurse were assaulted by a patient who struck the operator with a crutch. The assailant was restrained and sedated; both staff members sustained only minor injuries. The attack renewed calls for better protection and training for health‑care workers confronting aggressive patients.