MARIO ISOLA, the boss of Pirelli F1’s division, will put his life on the line tonight as he takes up his role as volunteer paramedic in the European epicentre of the coronavirus.
While Isola should have been in Vietnam for the country’s inaugural F1 race, the postponed series means he can bravely assist in helping critically ill patients near his home in Milan.
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Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola is volunteering in Italy’s fight against coronavirusCredit: Pirelli Motorsport
Mario Isola is a medic on the frontline in ItalyCredit: Pirelli Motorsport
Despite being begged not to volunteer by his girlfriend Isabella, the 50-year-old says it’s his duty to help out in the coronavirus crisis in the region that has seen a staggering death toll.
The disease has killed over 7,500 people in Lombardy, and unsurprisingly, he is nervous about his first shift since coming out of self-imposed isolation after flying back from Melbourne.
He told SunSport: “As paramedics, we know we sometimes have to take risks.
“You could be faced with an aggressive person, you also take a risk when you drive an ambulance on an urgent mission.
“You know it is risky and you can have an accident. A few years ago I was in an accident in an ambulance and someone in another car was killed.
“Now, the problem is that every time the radio rings with a new mission, you are putting yourself in danger.
“You do it because you have to do it. I am having some discussions with my girlfriend, who is not very happy about it.
“Now, every time there is a risk, and that risk is not close to zero, it is something evident in many countries.”
Isola, who joined the volunteer medical service when he was 18, has spent the last few weeks locked up at home.
With stricter sanctions than the UK, he has only ventured out of his home to buy essentials.
When he has gone out on the streets he says it is eerily quiet as Italy is gripped by fear of the disease.
NIGHT SHIFT
While at home he has continued to work for Pirelli and after his 14-day isolation period elapsed, he has helped out in an emergency call centre dealing with patients suffering from the effects of the coronavirus.
But tonight will mark his first full shift, starting at 7pm and going through unto 5am the next day.
Obvious dangers aside, he is also bracing himself for a mentally tough shift as he copes with the impact of the virus for the first time.
He added: “I have spoken to many of my colleagues, we are a community and we have a chat. We share what happens.
“What they say is the worst thing is that, while you normally find yourself in a very difficult situation, now the biggest impact on you is on the psychological side.
“The hardest part of the job now is that you cannot carry any relatives of the patient in the ambulance to hospital.
“Usually, you take anybody from the family who is available to come because it is important to have that support for them.
“But now, to avoid contact with any patient, it is forbidden to take anyone other than the ambulance team.
“Sometimes you have someone in a serious condition and we have to tell the relatives ‘sorry, you cannot come with us’.
“They realise that could be the last time they see their relatives alive and it is really hard on our people.
“We have to explain to them that we have to follow the procedures but it is really tough.”
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Isola, who had a successful career in motorsport as a youngster and started at Pirelli as a tyre tester, set up an ambulance driving programme in 2004.
It has since trained 7,000 volunteers and 150 instructors that serve the Lombardy region.
He is part of a team of 150 volunteers in his area that not only work as ambulance crews but offer community support, such as delivering medical supplies to old people on bicycles.
His employers Pirelli have also chipped in, distributing medical supplies while their factories have been housing essential suppliers.
And Isola is now heading up a charity, www.croceviola.org, to raise money during these critical times not only for coronavirus sufferers but also those vulnerable people impacted by the nation-wide shutdown.
He said: “Everyone is trying to find additional money support to help.
“Even if we don’t have to pay for the volunteers, you have to pay for the uniform and the materials, the fuel for the ambulance – I cannot say tyres, because Pirelli supply all the ambulances.
“We are trying to raise money that will make the people who need it the priority, because it is a social emergency rather than a health emergency.
“It could be people who live in our area or old people who are not able to get their pension or who have money to get to the end of the month.
“Hospitals and intensive care are a priority and we are lucky we have four ambulances that are quite new,
“But we need to send money where it needs to go, not just looking at our own association.”
Italian medical staff have been stretched to the limits by the coronavirus pandemicCredit: Pirelli Motorsport
Italy’s lockdown has been extended until April 13 but there are signs that the country’s strict measures to curb the spread of the virus have started to workCredit: AFP or licensors
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
