Emergency: defibrillators and rescue in Oltre il Colle and Zambla

In Lombardy there are three single answering centres for 112, in Milan, Brescia and Varese; the Varese centre also serves the province of Bergamo, connected since 6 November 2012. The operator takes the call, brings in a real-time interpreter if needed, gathers the details and transfers the call to the body responsible for the emergency and the area. Callers from a landline are identified within seconds, callers from a mobile are located through the network.

AREU's free 112 Where ARE U app, for iOS and Android, sends the phone's GPS position when you call, over mobile data or by SMS if there is no data connection, and lets people who cannot speak make a silent call, with buttons to indicate the type of help needed. You do not need to tell the operator: the system recognises calls made with the app.

All the defibrillators recorded by AREU are registered and geolocated in the systems of the 118 control rooms: when someone calls about a cardiac arrest, the centre points to the nearest device and guides the caller to fetch and use it. The one on via Roma is mapped on OpenStreetMap but does not appear in the regional register.

Three of the defibrillators were bought by the council in 2014 for the main village and the hamlets. In 2024 the council replaced their expired pads, for adults and for children, and in January 2025 it bought new pads for the Zambla Alta one, which had been used in a rescue.

First of all, call 112. AREU points out that if the rescuer has not done the course, the control room operators guide them through chest compressions while help arrives. The automated external defibrillator, or AED, is a small machine with two adhesive pads: it analyses the heart's electrical activity, decides by itself whether a shock is needed and tells you step by step what to do with an electronic voice.

AREU recommends drying the person's chest if it is wet and not touching them during the shock, until the machine signals; on its own, defibrillation has limited effect and must be combined with chest compressions. Since 2021 the law has allowed anyone to use a defibrillator in a suspected cardiac arrest when no trained person is present, and it applies the state-of-necessity rule to those who do so. AREU nevertheless recommends the course of about five hours run by accredited centres, and the Croce Verde Val Serina has organised such courses for the public. These are the five steps AREU gives:

In the mountains rescue is called through 112, reminds the Lombardy Alpine and Cave Rescue service, which in its VI Orobic Delegation also has the Oltre il Colle station and provides its technicians to the air ambulance. Do not leave the phone you are calling from: if the call drops, keep the line free so the control room can call you back. A rescue can also take place without a helicopter, which is why details on the ground matter. Tell the operator:

For non-urgent health problems there is 116117. For intoxication the ASST gives 112 from Bergamo and its province and the poison centre's free number, 800 883300, from outside the province. For reports and paperwork the Carabinieri station of reference is the one in Serina, at via Valle 1, phone 0345 66061, the number also listed by the Pro Loco; for emergencies it is still 112. For water and sewer faults the municipal civil protection plan gives the Uniacque free number, 800 123 955.

The same plan, published by the council in 2024, sets out the assembly areas, the places to gather in an emergency, for example after an earthquake: